


my blood is singing with your voice

by prouveyrac



Series: vampire AU [1]
Category: Sanders Sides, Thomas Sanders, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Logan is a vampire, M/M, Vampires, eventually there will be romance, patton (also a vampire) also comes in later, roman is a part of a monster hunting agency, virgil is also a hunter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-06-08
Packaged: 2019-04-17 16:18:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 69,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14192868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prouveyrac/pseuds/prouveyrac
Summary: Roman, as the lead monster hunter, knew that he was setting himself up for a life of long days and longer nights. He was the agency’s last resort when peace treaties and compromises didn’t work, so when things finally reached him and the other hunters, the situation was, typically, pretty bad. It wasn’t unusual for Roman and his team to have to swoop in and save the day when the fraying peace between humans and monsters grew worse and, therefore, violent. Because of that, the last thing he expected to find himself doing was taking in Logan, a vampire attacked by one of his own for reasons that Roman had yet to figure out.





	1. chapter one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warnings: mentions of body horror/gore but nothing graphic, curses, vampires

Roman, as the lead monster hunter, knew that he was setting himself up for a life of long days and longer nights. He was the agency’s last resort when peace treaties and compromises didn’t work, so when things finally reached him and the other hunters, the situation was, typically, pretty bad. It wasn’t unusual for Roman and his team to have to swoop in and save the day when the fraying peace between humans and monsters grew worse and, therefore, violent.

(If Roman was being honest, though, he believed that the ones in charge of making treaties and compromises were just shit at their jobs because their treaties and compromises barely ever worked, but Roman digressed.)

Roman was still annoyed, though, when he got a call at the ungodly hour of seven in the morning from his boss saying that he needed to come in on one of his few days off. He was less annoyed when his boss stressed the urgency, because now Roman was worried that the city was about to collapse in on itself because it was about to be ransacked by demons or werewolves or fae, but some sliver of annoyance was still there.

After two minutes of staring at his ceiling, questioning his career path, Roman finally threw his covers off of him and swung his legs off the bed. A chill went up his spine as his feet connected with the cold flooring of his bedroom, but he didn’t give himself any more time to moan and groan and, instead, stood and started to pull on the closest, cleanest clothes he could find. The early summer sun was already shining brightly through the little slits in his blinds and, despite his air conditioner blasting on its coldest setting, he knew that the day’s heat was going to be insufferable.

Once he finished freshening up, he remembered to grab his phone from his charger and instantly started dialing a number.

Virgil answered on the second ring.

“You can’t just come in?” his best friend asked on the other line. “You have to call me as you’re literally coming in? We can’t just talk when you get here?” Roman rolled his eyes at Virgil’s annoyed tone, but knew that there was no bite to his bark.

“Don’t act like you don’t love hearing my voice first thing in the morning,” Roman said, walking into his kitchen. Holding his phone in between his shoulder and his ear, he grabbed a to-go cup from his drainboard with one hand and the coffee pot with the other. “And they called you in, too?”

“I’ve already been here,” Virgil said. “Somebody has to work the Saturday morning shifts.” Roman could practically hear Virgil grimacing as he said that.

Roman laughed. “And they chose you.”

“I think it’s because they know that I don’t sleep already,” Virgil said. “They’re trying to get as many hours out of me as they can.”

“But, hey, since we’re on the topic of work,” Roman said, screwing the lid onto his cup and putting the coffee pot in the sink. “Do you know what this whole thing is about? Lockwell sounded pretty tense. More than usual, that is.” He grabbed his keys, wallet, and pocket knife (can never be too safe) from where they sat on the counter and headed

“Uh, kinda?” Roman furrowed his eyebrows at Virgil’s sudden nervous tone. “Right before Lockwell called you, the head of forensics department came in with a shit-ton of files. I don’t know what they talked about, I was just in the breakroom with Lockwell when the head came looking for him. All I know is that I was told to get into the conference room, that you were being called, and that this next case is a gruesome one. They’re still talking outside the room. Can’t hear a word of what they’re saying but I can tell it’s tense.”

“Wait, we’re already on the case?” Roman asked. He walked out of his apartment building and into the heat. He could already feel his clothes sticking to his body, but with the agency only being a couple blocks from his apartment, it would be useless to do anything but walk. “We don’t even know what it is yet.”

“Oh, I’m aware,” Virgil said.

“Then this must be bad,” Roman sighed. “You know, I was hoping for a nice, low-key summer. Like last summer. Last summer was nice.”

“Speak for yourself,” Virgil scoffed. “Last summer was when me and Thomas had to deal with the fae who wanted to, I don’t fucking know, steal children? It’s been a year and I still don’t understand any of that. But do you know how bad a situation is when fae—who typically live in the _woods_ —come to a _city_ with their plans, and do you know how much worse it is when only two people are sent to deal with them?”

“I know, Virg, we’ve talked about this,” Roman sighed. He quickly checked the time and began hastening his step. “Nothing makes sense, our treaties barely work, and there needs to be a better distribution of hunters. We should write Lockwell a sternly worded letter. I bet he would _love_ that. But, hey, I’m gonna go because I’m going to see you in literally five minutes and hearing your amazing voice is slowing my walk.”

“I would get here soon,” Virgil said. “Lockwell has checked his watch five—no, six— times.”

Roman hung up the phone and shoved it in his pocket. Still, though, he arrived to the agency in closer to ten minutes than five. As Roman swiped his ID card at the front desk, Lockwell poked his head out to look into the lobby, his eyes immediately landing on Roman.

“Prince, finally,” he said, walking further out and holding the door open with his hip. He had two thick folders held in one arm. A man whose stress wore him down more than his age did, Roman was sure that he was one crisis away from popping a vein. “I apologize to have to call you in on your day off, but this is a pressing matter. Virgil is already waiting in one of our conference rooms.”

“Lockwell, I have been waiting for the day that Virgil and I are put on a case together,” Roman said, following Lockwell from the lobby and down the next corridor. “This has been a great morning.”

“I would save your glibness until after you see this case,” Lockwell said, his tone too ominous for Roman to brush off as Lockwell just being used to his sparkling personality. “Once we get to the conference room, myself and Dr. Meyer will tell you and Virgil everything.”

“The head of forensics is still here?” Roman questioned and, at Lockwell’s arched eyebrow, continued with, “I called Virgil when I was leaving my apartment to see if he knew anything. He said that Dr. Meyer, who I’m assuming is the forensics guy, dropped off some files, but I didn’t think he was going to be meeting with us.”

“Well, I’m sure you remember how seven people have gone missing in the past week,” Lockwell said.

Roman nodded. “Yeah, it was all over the news,” he said. “A person for each day.”

“Well, they were just found,” Lockwell continued. “None alive, all the same.”

A chill passed down Roman’s spine and made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. “Oh.” He swallowed and shook off his nerves. “That’s terrible, but still, we don’t deal with murders unless-”

“I will tell you more shortly,” Lockwell said as they arrived at the conference room. He pushed the door open for Roman. “Now, get in. We have a lot we need to discuss.”

Roman shuffled into the conference room to see Dr. Meyer, a stack of folders in front of him, sitting across from Virgil, who was nervously eyeing the folders. Roman carefully eyed them as well as he sunk down into the seat next to Virgil. The friends sent each other wary looks as Lockwell sat down next to Dr. Meyer, setting his own folders down in front of him.

“Well, might as well get started,” Dr. Meyer said. His tone was quick, as if he was nervous to even talk about what was in the folders. Roman couldn’t blame him, honestly. Seven missing people showing up dead and their cases being brought to the agency? Didn’t really bode well for what it meant. “Is there anything that you two already know?”

“That the seven people who went missing are all dead,” Roman said. He didn’t even think that Virgil might not have known that information until, in shock, he slammed his elbow into the arm of the chair.

“What?” Virgil practically shouted as Lockwell shot a quick glare at Roman, who pretended to not see it.

“I-I thought you were already told,” Roman stammered.

“No, he wasn’t-” Lockwell started before Virgil cut in.

“You’re telling us that the seven people who went missing last week, including the one who was reported missing _yesterday morning_ , are all dead?” Virgil asked, leaning forward with his hands splayed on the table. “We don’t deal with murders, we-”

“I know that it’s shocking,” the doctor said, sliding over two folders to Roman and Virgil and one to Lockwell. “Trust me, my people were speechless when the… bodies came in last night. My entire night shift was on the case for the whole night. But this… isn’t any ordinary murder.” Roman noted that, for someone who was literally the head of the forensic department that worked with the agency, Dr. Meyer seemed horrified by whatever he saw. Another thing that didn’t bode well for whatever was going on.

“In the folders are the autopsy details,” Dr. Meyer said. Roman flipped the folder open and quickly sifted through the reports. Each time his eyes landed on the name of the deceased, a cold block settled in his stomach. He swallowed thickly and, instead, chose to look at what they believed the cause of death was.

 _Blood loss._ Roman furrowed his eyebrows and lifted his head back up to look at the doctor. Virgil must have noticed that, too, because he wore the same confused expression.

“I assume you two saw the conclusion of the autopsy,” Dr. Meyer said with a sigh. He flipped open his own folder to show them his own report. Despite already having everything he needed typed on it, there were red pen marks everywhere. “All victims showed the same cause of death: blood loss. There was no blunt force trauma, no asphyxiation, no poisons or chemicals. My team even noticed that there were no lacerations, either.”

“Then how do you bleed out seven people?” Roman asked, looking back to his own file.

“Through the neck,” Virgil mumbled, and that was when Roman noticed what Virgil was talking about. On the autopsy report, an outline of a human body was drawn over. Roman’s eyes originally passed over it after having not seen any marks indicating damage to places like the head, chest, or stomach. Now, however, Roman saw was Virgil was seeing: two small X’s on the side of the figure’s neck.

The same image with the same marks were on all the sheets. Roman admitted that his heart gave a jolt when he started to realize what they were dealing with.

“Yes, that,” Dr. Meyer said, his voice quiet. He cleared his throat before continuing, “My colleagues and I wondered the same thing. A person can bleed out eventually, yes, if their blood cannot clot. But these people had no cuts deep enough to do that, nor did any of them have any blood diseases.” He sighed. “However, they did all share identical markings. On the sides of each of their necks were two round wounds, roughly the size of what canines would be. We assumed then that it was a bite, but that still didn’t explain the blood loss. Say this was some freak animal attack. Yes, the bites would have made sense, but there would have been damage to the structure of the neck, too. These are bites, yes, but whatever did it was able to do it without, say, having to leap at the victim. They were able to do it cleanly, and apparently without a struggle. No other marks were left on the victims but these.”

“Holy shit,” Roman said, unable to hold himself back as he finally started to piece everything together. “A human did this, or at least something remotely human.”

Dr. Meyer nodded. “That is what we think,” he said. “We’re still running tests and examinations to see if we can find addition DNA that doesn’t belong to any of the victims but, as of right now, it seems that whoever—or whatever— did this knew what they were doing, and knew how to do it clean.”

“So, let me get this straight, seven people go missing, all at night, might I add,” Virgil piped up, flipping once again through the papers in his file. “They all turn up dead because of blood loss. There are no deep cuts on them, no signs of struggle, no DNA, fibers, anything, and all that’s found are two wounds on the neck that look enough like bite marks, like canines.”

“Or fangs,” Roman interjected, looking at Lockwell. “Forgive me if I’m wrong, but if only a bite is enough to bleed someone dry, then that sounds like a vampire. It’s something big enough to not have to leap at the victim’s neck, ruling out any further damage. Some are known to have the power to persuade or manipulate others, which could be the reason why there was no struggle because they were manipulated. Not to mention the fact that they feed off of blood, which explains the blood loss.”

“Exactly what I was thinking,” Virgil murmured, the truth of Roman’s words settling over the room. Of all the things the agency has had to deal with, vampires have never been one of them. Everything Roman knew about them, he knew from what he had studied years prior. He always knew, however, that dealing with a vampire would probably be one of his worst nightmares. With their strength and speed, not to mention the fact that most had some type of power, going up against a vampire would be more about using strategy than using force, unless he managed to get close enough to cut its head off or set fire to it. But even that, Roman believed, would be a fight.

“That is what we seem to have on our hands here,” Lockwell then said, now sliding over the folders he had to Roman and Virgil. “As Dr. Meyer said, the forensics team is still running tests. But I’ll be damned if this is anything but a case of vampires.” He sighed and shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. “All this city needs is an invasion of vampires. All _we_ need is a horde of vampires taking over the city. That’s why you two are on this case. We need our best on it, and that’s you two. Read over everything in these files and don’t even think about leaving until you can recite everything to each other perfectly.” He then stood and Dr. Meyer followed suit. “Dr. Meyer is going to be heading back to the lab and I am going to figure out cautionary plans for the city and what you two should do exactly. Expect a lot of late nights coming your way, that’s when these things like to attack.”

“We understand what we have to do,” Roman said and Virgil nodded in agreement.

When the two men left, Roman turned to Virgil, wide-eyed.

“Holy shit,” Roman said.

“Still hoping for a laid back summer?” Virgil asked with an arched eyebrow.

“I guess not now,” Roman sighed and flipped over the folder Lockwell gave them. He was convinced that every piece of information the agency had on vampires was in this folder, it was sure thick enough. “Now we have to worry about not being eaten, I guess.”

\--

“Virgil, if I have to read these files one more time, I think I might die,” Roman groaned, draping himself dramatically over Virgil’s couch. After literal hours of reviewing the file given to them by Lockwell, along with the forensic file from Dr. Meyer, along with the stacks of other files given to them (all of this happening before noon, Roman might add), Lockwell decided that the two could leave for lunch and continue reviewing the files together in the comfort of one of their homes as long as they swore they would actually look at the files. Roman, despite wanting to do literally anything else but read what he felt like he already had a thousand times already, acquiesced.

Besides, for the past ten minutes, sirens had been going off for about a fire downtown. Roman, in his distracted stupor, had watched all the firetrucks race downtown instead of paying attention to the papers in his hand (which, by now, were somewhere on the floor after they flitted out of his loose grip).

“That is a very poorly timed comment,” Virgil said from where he sat on on the floor. He had spread his own file out hours ago and was currently marking one of his pages. Roman, believing he finally reached his limit of responsibility, sighed.

“We’ve been reading these things for hours,” Roman said, pushing himself up on his elbows. “I can tell you how to kill a vampire, which is either by stabbing it in the heart with a stake or burning it, just in case you didn’t know. To poison one, you inject it with wolfsbane extract, but you’ll die if you eat it, so, don’t. And, Virgil, did you know-”

“Whatever you’re about to say, I know,” Virgil interjected. “Same goes for everything you already said and everything you ever will say. If it’s in this file, I know it. You don’t have to repeat it.”

“Someone’s snappy today,” Roman murmured and Virgil scoffed with an eyeroll.

“I just can’t believe that I currently have a better work ethic than Roman Prince, head monster hunter,” Virgil said. “Don’t you care about this? I mean, not to be morbid, but people are dying, Ro.”

“Yeah, obviously I care,” Roman said, sitting up. “If I was the one running this thing, we would have been out there hours ago. We _should_ have already been out there once we looked over these files. But Lockwell doesn’t have a plan set up yet, so that means that we can’t do anything but read and reread things we already learned years ago. If this thing is still out there, and it probably is, I doubt it’s gonna stop to let us read papers about it.” He sighed and pushed his hair back from his forehead. “I still think that we should get out there.”

“Yeah, I guess I agree,” Virgil said, scratching the back of his neck. “But with what gear? Basically everyone is so dead-set on us not doing anything, they didn’t even give us anything to use.”

Roman rolled his eyes. “So, basically, what we’re stuck with is paper to fight them with. We’re the two best monster hunters, and yet we have no plan, no gear, and not even a lead on who this vampire is because, apparently, they’re a pretty clean killer.”

Virgil shrugged. “I’m sure we’ll get something tomorrow and then you can go back to being heroic.”

Roman grinned. “I do miss being a hero,” he said, looking at the clock. “And speaking of tomorrow and the dangers that face us in the middle of the night, I need to head home.”

“Ro, let me call you a taxi or-”

“It’s fine, Virg,” Roman said. He began collecting his stuff from where it was displaced all over the room. “My apartment is five blocks away and, if anything, I’m a fast runner.” He winked at Virgil, who only slid him a glare.

“Don’t even joke about that,” Virgil muttered, standing up to walk Roman to his front door. “If you don’t text me when you get in, I’m going to kill you first and then go after this vampire by myself.”

“Oh, please,” Roman laughed. “You need me.”

“I need you like I need vampires destroying this city,” Virgil said with a smirk and it was Roman’s turn to give him a glare.

“That was a poorly timed comment,” Roman mocked, swinging the door open. He turned on his heel and leaned on the door frame. “So, we’ll do this all over again tomorrow?”

“Hopefully there will be a plan set up for us,” Virgil said with a shrug.

“I still think they should just let me take over,” Roman sighed. “I have a feeling that we’re gonna be skipping the ‘make a shitty peace treaty’ step and go straight to ‘kill it before it kills us’. Usually I’m not a fan, but drastic times calls for drastic measures, I guess, and I think I can make a plan that, you know, actually works on the first try.”

“I’m sure you can, too,” Virgil said. “But you need to be on this case, and I’m pretty sure that if you try to undermine Lockwell, he might lose it.”

Roman shrugged and turned back around. “We’ll get there eventually,” he said. “See you tomorrow, Virg.”

“See you,” Virgil said. There was a couple moments pause where Roman thought Virgil closed the door when his friend suddenly called back after him, “And text me when you get in!”

“Got it,” Roman called back, waving a hand before descending down the staircase of the apartment building.

The warm night breeze brushed against Roman’s face as he stepped out onto the concrete and the smell of smoke still hung in the air. The sirens stopped, so Roman assumed that the possible threat of a fire burning down the whole city was diminished.

It’d get rid of the vampire problem, though, and Roman wouldn’t even have to lift a finger. Which would make his life much easier (and not in danger of people someone’s next meal), but would get rid of any heroism, so where was the fun in that?

He continued his way down the empty city streets, actually enjoying the remoteness that passed over the city after midnight, when every car horn stopped blaring and people stopped shouting.

He was enjoying the peace, however, until something that sounded a bit too much like a struggle came from the alley Roman was passing. He stopped his walk immediately and slowly turned to face the alley before him. It was where the light from the lamp posts didn’t reach and the darkness stretched back further than Roman could see.

There was definitely someone– _something_ –in that alley and, whatever it was, Roman could hear it fighting something else.

He hesitated, stuck somewhere in between fear and caution. The only thing he had on him that could be remotely harmful was a pocket knife, and he didn’t even think he would give it to anyone to use in a regular fight, and the only light he had would be from his phone and-

Then, the sound of something hissing–something too beastly to be a regular animal– came out of the alley like a wave and washed up Roman’s back in the form of hairs on end.

Roman’s body was moving before his mind could process what he was about to do. With one hand he slid out his pocket knife, flicking it out, and with the other he fumbled out his phone for its flashlight. He knew that the light would only distract whatever it was (most likely a vampire) away from whatever it was attacking (most likely a human that was about to be someone’s midnight snack) and draw it closer to him, but that was a risk he would have to take. It was a risk he would always take.

Running deeper into the alley, the small light finally landed on two figures and all Roman focused on first was one of them, wearing a black cloak, throw whoever was in their hands to the ground. It turned to Roman with a vicious hiss and bright yellow eyes before-

Before leaping up into the night sky and vanishing in a puff of smoke.

Roman didn’t allow himself time to dawdle on whatever he just saw and, instead, decided to shift his attention to the human on the ground that was moving, yes, Roman could hear them moving, which meant they were alive, at least alive for now, and that meant-

Roman did, however, allow himself time to dawdle, along with almost drop his phone and his knife, at the red eyes and fangs that suddenly turned up at him and the hiss that ripped from the person–no, _vampire’s_ – throat.

“ _Holy shit,_ ” Roman said, probably much louder than he should have, as he stumbled back, almost losing his footing. The hissing still rang throughout the alley and, yet to be attacked, Roman started to get the feeling that he was the more posing threat to the vampire than vice versa.

When he tentatively shone his flashlight back on the vampire, his hand shaking more than he would have liked to admit, he saw why.

The first thing he noticed was that the vampire was sprawled on his side with his ankles bound by a tightly wound rope, and the way his arms were pulled behind him, Roman assumed that his hands were tied, too. The next were the glasses on the concrete, displaced as if they had been hit off. The last thing he noticed, which probably should have been the first thing he saw, was the stake driven into the vampire’s arm and the pain straining on his face.

Roman would have assumed that someone else had tried to take matters into their own hands if he didn’t remember the other thing, most likely another vampire, that had just been attacking this one.

Roman had a thousand thoughts running through his head, a thousand things he wanted to say, and somehow what he thought would be best was, “Stop hissing! I’m going to help you!” He mentally kicked himself once he said it. If this vampire also happened to be the one that had killed all those people, Roman might as well have been digging his own grave.

But there was something in the back of his mind, something that told him that if this wasn’t that vampire, Roman wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he left this one tied up with a stake stabbed into his arm. Eventually the sun would rise, and even though that alone wouldn’t kill the vampire, that along with the stake in his arm and any other weaknesses that could plague him just might.

“Don’t come near me,” the vampire said. His voice carried shakily over to Roman, the pain he was feeling evident in the weakness of his words.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Roman assured, trying his best to keep his voice calm. “I’m assuming that other thing–that other vampire?–just attacked you, right?” The vampire hesitated before nodding. “I know you probably have no reason to trust me, I mean, who trusts anyone coming up to them at an alley with a knife?” Roman flashed him a smile and only received a stare in return. _Okay, backtrack Roman._ “What I’m trying to say is that I want to help you. I want to cut you out of those ropes and look at that stake in your arm, but I need you to let me near you.”

When the vampire hesitated, eyes flitting to and away from Roman, Roman finally sighed and said, “Listen, I don’t mean to pull this card, but it’s either that I help you out or you stay here and get weaker when the sun comes out, and then who knows what will happen to you.”

The vampire worried his bottom lip as he considered whether or not to actually trust Roman, his fangs poking out, before finally nodding. Roman grinned (and still didn’t receive one back) and approached the vampire. He knelt down and began slowly, carefully, cutting the ropes. He couldn’t hold his flashlight and cut the ropes at the same time, so he just had to hope that he didn’t accidentally cut himself and send the other into a feeding frenzy.

“I’m Roman, by the way,” he said, cutting away the ropes at his ankles. He waited until the other was looking at him to move behind him. “I feel like some introductions are needed.”

“Logan,” the vampire, Logan, said. Roman arched an eyebrow at how his voice wavered even when saying that one word, but he figured that being tied up with a stake thrust into one’s arm was not the most pleasant thing.

“A pleasure, Logan,” Roman said and began cutting at the rope that tied his hands.

“It really isn’t,” Logan said, and as if to solidify that, let out a loud hiss of pain when Roman jostled his arms a bit too much.

“Sorry, sorry,” Roman said quickly. “Listen, the only gear I have on me right now is a pocket knife that isn’t very sharp. I’ll work on that stake in your arm right after I finish this.”

“You say that as if you do this often,” Logan noted. Every word he spoke was laced with pain and fatigue, some even starting to slur together. Roman did his best to cut the rope faster while not shifting Logan too much. He didn’t know what had happened to him, but Roman started to get the feeling that it was more than just being bound with a stake in his arm.

“Funny story, about that,” Roman said, though neither of them were laughing. He finally cut Logan’s hands loose and came around to the front of him. “I, uh, work for the city’s monster hunting agency.”

“Are you going to kill me?” Logan asked, rather straightforward.

“Are you the vampire that just killed seven people?” Roman asked in return.

“No.”

“Then you’re in luck,” Roman said. “You’re not the vampire I’m looking for.” Roman considered adding on that the vampire that attacked Logan was probably the one he was after, but he figured that he should at least have the courtesy to save Logan first before asking.

“Wonderful,” Logan muttered before slowly pushing himself up so that he was sitting. Luckily, he wasn’t leaning on the arm that was staked, but it didn’t seem to make the movement any less painful. Just the process of going from lying down to sitting seemed to wear Logan down, and the way his eyes started to take on a bleary look did not go unnoticed.

Roman, at that, remembered the glasses pushed aside on the concrete. He skirted his hand on the pavement until they brushed against lenses. Picking them up and pressing them into Logan’s hands, he said, “Didn’t think vampires wore glasses.”

“Vampirism doesn’t fix everything,” Logan said. When he tried to put his glasses on, he let out a strained hiss as his injured arm spasmed and the glasses clattered back to the concrete.

Roman worried his bottom lip and slid the glasses on Logan himself. He had hoped Logan’s gaze would have focused behind the lenses and was only met with disappointment and a growing concern. “So, I think it’s time we get this stake out of you,” he said, grabbing his phone and turning on his flashlight again. When he shone it on Logan’s staked arm, however, his mind faltered.

A vampire could only be killed by a wooden stake if it’s stabbed through their heart. Otherwise, it’s just as if they’ve been stabbed. Roman assumed it involved a lot of pain, yes, but there was no fatality and no extreme injuries. On removal, the wound would naturally begin to heal itself immediately. One of the first things Roman was taught about vampires is that staking one anywhere but the heart would be nothing but a painful inconvenience, unless-

Roman finally pieced together why Logan hissed with pain at every sudden movement, why every shift and fidget took all of his energy, and why his words started to slur and his eyes started to blur. Where Logan was stabbed, the ichor in his system bubbled from the wound while his skin cauterized around the stake. Each movement for Logan caused a searing pain to run through him and his grip on reality to lessen because, Roman realized, the stake he was stabbed with had been laced with wolfsbane, the most efficient poison to use against vampires.

“You’ve been poisoned,” Roman said, unable to keep the shock out of his voice as he examined the wound.

“Wolfsbane,” Logan murmured, his head beginning to loll, and Roman knew he only had, at most, a few minutes before Logan fell into a feverish stupor.

“Should have been something you mentioned earlier, but it’s fine,” Roman said, his lie obvious. “But now you have to stay with me, okay? I have to get this stake out of your arm and it’s going to hurt a lot, probably.” Roman paused. “Please don’t attack me when I do this.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Logan said, the words slurred together to form one. Roman worried his bottom lip, watching as Logan grew more and more dazed. “I have to get to Patton. He… he’ll know what to do.”

“Patton?” Roman questioned, his eyebrows furrowing at the new name. He didn’t plan to  use Logan’s progressively worsening state as an opportunity to get answers, but, hey, two birds, one stone, right? “Is that the one who did this to you?”

“No, no, he’s the one I live with, he knows what to do,” Logan rambled, his eyes gazing all around the alley as if he was just seeing it for the first time.

“Okay, where is he?” Roman asked. He’ll address later the fact that there’s not one but three vampires who live in the city but, currently, he had a larger problem to deal with. “Is he close by?”

“He’s somewhere. We used to be downtown…” Logan then trailed off, blinking blearily at Roman.

“Okay, well, you don’t have the time to go look for him,” Roman said quickly. “I apologize for having to do this, but I have to get that stake out of you. Please don’t attack me for doing this.” Frankly, Roman didn’t think Logan was strong enough to attack him, but that still didn’t stop him from grabbing the stake and yanking it out of Logan in one quick, fluid motion and tossing it aside.

Logan’s pained hiss quickly turned into a cry that ripped out from his throat and echoed against the alley walls and in Roman’s ears. The wound bubbled with tainted, black ichor and a tremor racked its way down Logan’s body.

Roman’s original plan had been to free the vampire, as long as it wasn’t the one that had been killing humans, and be on his way. It would be his little secret from the agency, from everyone, and he would hope that it wouldn’t come back one day to bite him (literally). Now, though, with Logan’s worsening condition and the poison in his system, Roman didn’t think he could leave him now and still keep a good conscience. He truly believed that Logan was telling the truth when he said that he wasn’t the vampire Roman was looking for–honestly, Roman believed he would have been dead by now if that was the case–and, even though Lockwell and every other higher up in the agency would have said otherwise, Roman saw no reason to leave Logan out here, the poison leaving him weak and unable to feed. If he left Logan, he would just become prey to anything that would take advantage of him in this state.

Besides, Roman found it hard to not pity the vampire who had been attacked, poisoned, and left to die slowly by one of his own. If anything, he could justify what he was about to do by telling himself that the nicer he was, the more answers he could get from Logan when he finally regained consciousness.

So, Roman, after pocketing his phone from where it was on the concrete, tried not to think too much as he slowly, carefully, scooped Logan up in his arms and began to carry him out of the alley. He felt Logan’s hands weakly press against his chest, as if he meant to push himself away from Roman, but instead his hands just fisted in Roman’s shirt, his claws digging wrinkles into the material.

“I’m going to take you back to my apartment,” Roman said quietly. By now, the wolfsbanes’ effects had completely washed over Logan and left him a trembling mess in his arms. Roman kept having to remind himself that, despite the poison now being pumped through Logan’s body, he was not going to die and there was nothing else Roman could do until he found an antidote, which wouldn’t be until he clocked into work in a couple hours. “I have a friend who can help, and we can get you an antidote, and no one from my job will find out about this because then I’ll be the next person in this city who dies. And then, once you’re all better, you can go your own way and I can go mine and we can pretend that I didn’t just rescue and take in a vampire from off the street because, have I mentioned what I do for a living and how my boss will probably kill me?”

When Roman was met with no response, he glanced down at Logan and saw that he was just on the brink of falling unconscious, his eyes snapping shut and opening half way only to close again. His head lolled again Roman’s chest and his hands, still lightly gripping his shirt, trembled so much that Roman felt the vibrations as if they were his own.

Roman was able to arrive back to his apartment with no interference, which seemed to be the one true perk of him being out after midnight, and he somehow managed to unlock his door without dropping the now unconscious vampire.

When he walked in, he kicked the door shut behind him and instantly deposited Logan on the couch. The moonlight gave a better lighting than that of the alley, and Roman frowned when he saw the pain still set deep into Logan’s features. The poison was continuing its rampage through him even in his state of rest.

He drew all his curtains shut, knowing that he would have to find something better to keep the sun from irritating Logan once it rose, before slipping quietly into the kitchen. He took his phone out of his pocket and dialed.

Virgil answered on the first ring.

“Roman, are you fucking kidding me? I was literally about to head out myself and search for you, where the fuck-”

“Virgil,” Roman cut him off. Virgil must have heard the strain in Roman’s tone because he didn’t try to say anything else. “I might have a bit of an issue on my hands. How fast can you get here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello yes i am back at it with another logince fic bc logince is good for the soul
> 
> but!!! this first chapter is kinda like a "trial chapter", meaning that im seeing how people take to the idea, so, therefore, feedback is greatly appreciated!!! i'd love to here what you guys think about this!!!
> 
> i don't think every chapter will be this long, i just needed to get all of this out in the first part because this is going to be a relatively short story so, with the plot, we practically hit the ground running
> 
> ethospathoslogan.tumblr.com


	2. chapter two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Call me an idiot, but I want to approach him with trust and kindness because it seems like the right thing to do.” Roman sighed and dragged a hand through his hair. “Maybe it can even get some answers out of him.”
> 
> Virgil worried his bottom lip. “Shit, Ro, that’s a great sentiment.”
> 
> Roman let a small smile slip onto his face. “I know.”
> 
> “Terrible timing, though.”
> 
> “I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter ended up being a lot longer than i thought it would be omg, but that's bc the first two chapters are setting up the plot, now things can get rolling
> 
> also tho!!! im still playing around with this au and seeing if it's sticking, so feedback is truly appreciated :)

It was close to one in the morning when Virgil got to Roman’s apartment. Roman had been watching helplessly as Logan, still unconscious, trembled on his couch from the effects of the poison when Virgil’s fist started slamming on his front door. Roman jumped at the sudden pounding that sounded through his apartment and quickly eyed Logan to see if he was disturbed before going and swinging open his front door.

“You know, you really can’t tell me that I have to come over as soon as possible because we have an issue, and then not give any context,” Virgil rushed out, panting. Roman noted Virgil’s black checkered pants and white t-shirt with purple hair-dye stains and arched an eyebrow.

“Did you run here?” Roman asked. “In your pajamas?”

“Of course I ran here! Would you have preferred for me to get dressed up first, maybe get some coffee?” Virgil snapped. Roman guessed he must have made a face, because his friend sighed and continued with, “Sorry just… I don’t know what’s going on, I don’t know what you’re about to tell me, but I’m already freaking out about it.”

In any normal situation, Roman would have assured his friend, who was prone to anxiety, that everything was fine and that there was nothing to worry about. This, however, was not any normal situation, and Roman now just felt guilty about putting Virgil on edge, because things were probably now only going to get worse.

“So, what is it?” Virgil asked. “What’s going on?”

“You’re going to want to see this,” Roman said slowly, opening the door to let Virgil through. “I don’t think you’d believe me otherwise.”

Virgil sighed and stepped into Roman’s apartment. “Princey, come on, I feel like, with what we do, there’s very few things that I won’t believe, so just tell me what’s going-” Virgil suddenly cut off and, when Roman turned to face him, saw that his eyes were on Roman’s couch. “Who the fuck is that?”

“So,” Roman started, scratching the back of his neck. “That’s Logan and I found him in an alley and-”

“You found him in a  _ what?  _ ” Virgil then smacked on the light and, with the force he used, Roman wouldn’t have been surprised if Virgil just broke his light switch. The darkness, its only light being from the moon overhead, was replaced by the bright lights of Roman’s living room, and his plan for gradually telling Virgil that he was now housing a vampire were thrown out the window. 

In the light, stronger than the one from his flashlight, Roman finally got his first real look at the vampire he took in, and realized that he appeared much worse than Roman initially thought. Logan’s pale, smooth skin looked practically translucent with the poison coursing through him. His veins were amplified by his temples and along his arms. They ran a dark red from Logan’s ichor, but Roman could see the poison’s black taint snaking its way through Logan’s system. His light brown hair hung limp in front of his forehead and fell into his eyes; Roman thought that, if he touched it, it might just break off in his fingers. The wound on his bicep had yet to close, and Roman worried his bottom lip as he watched how the poison bubbled and burned.

“Roman-  _ Roman _ , what the fuck have you done?” Roman turned to Virgil and saw a look of true horror on Virgil’s face.

“Virgil, I can explain-”

“Yeah, you better fucking explain!” Virgil exclaimed, his voice more full of panic than anger. “How- how did this happen? You cannot tell me that you just happened to come across a- a  _ vampire _ -” he lowered his voice to a hissed whisper when saying the word “-on your way home!”

“I… kinda did?” Roman offered weakly. Virgil’s glare could’ve incinerated him on the spot. “Virg, listen, okay? He was attacked by something, some _ one _ . I think it was another vampire.”

“So there’s two that we have to worry-”

“Virgil,  _ please _ , let me finish,” Roman pleaded. He must have looked pretty desperate because Virgil shut his mouth and nodded for him to continue. “This thing attacked him and he was in a lot of pain and I just… I couldn’t just leave him there, Virgil! Not when there’s another vampire out there that’s killing people, and apparently other vampires. Not when he was only going to get weaker.”

“How do you know that it’s not him?” Virgil asked, raising an eyebrow.

“That what’s not him?”

“That he’s-” Virgil pointed at Logan “-not the one who's been killing everyone. You  _ think _ that the other thing that attacked him was a vampire. That leaves us a fifty-percent chance, maybe, that the one you found and brought back to your apartment is the one that has bled seven humans dry.”

Roman shrugged and worried his bottom lip, his eyes trailing back to Logan. “He told me that the other one was a vampire, and when I asked him if he was the one killing everything, he said that he wasn’t, so…”

Roman looked back to Virgil and saw that his glare was back. Roman was slightly worried that Virgil was going to strangle him right then and there.

“Roman,” Virgil trailed off, shaking his head.

“What? Why are you ‘Roman’-ing me?”

“Because-” Virgil dropped his head into his hands and took a deep breath “-why would you trust him?  _ How _ could you trust him? One of the  _ first things _ we were ever taught about vampires was to be cautious around them and and what they say! Vampires are  _ known _ for having powers that manipulate people! He could have easily been tempting you, or coercing you into trusting him, or maybe even lying about being injured! How could you have-”

“I don’t know, Virgil. Okay? I don’t,” Roman cut him off, his tone sharp and defensive. “For all I know, he could’ve been lying this entire time and he’s currently deciding which one of us would taste better. But, for once, I just want to go into a situation like this believing the best in someone. I know it’s stupid, okay? I know that there’s another vampire on a killing spree, and there’s a fifty percent chance that it’s Logan. But you know what? There’s also a fifty perfect chance that it’s  _ not _ Logan. I want to believe that he’s not the one we should be worrying about and that, instead, I should help him! We’re always forced to into situations like this distrustful and ready for a fight, so no wonder they easily get violent. So, call me an idiot, but I want to approach him with trust and kindness because it seems like the right thing to do.” Roman sighed and dragged a hand through his hair. “Maybe it can even get some answers out of him.”

Virgil worried his bottom lip. “Shit, Ro, that’s a great sentiment.”

Roman let a small smile slip onto his face. “I know.”

“Terrible timing, though.”

“I know.”

Virgil let out a laugh that sounded more like a scoff and nodded. “At least you’re self aware,” he said. “So, what’s the plan? What are we doing?”

“We?” Roman arched an eyebrow.

“Yeah, we,” Virgil said and checked his phone. “We have less than six hours until we have to be at work. And it seems like you’re gonna need all the help you can get.”

Roman beamed. “I knew that there was a reason we’re best friends.”

“Don’t make this more sentimental than it has to be,” Virgil said with an eye roll, but Roman didn’t miss his smile. “So what are we doing?”

“Well, we have to completely vampire-ify this whole apartment-”

“That’s not a word, Roman.”

“So, we should probably start with the windows, since the sun is gonna be up soon, and my shit curtains won’t be enough,” Roman continued. “It won’t kill him, but in his state, it’ll definitely make things worse.”

“Oh yeah, I was meaning to ask that,” Virgil said. “Why does he look so… shit?”

“Oh, it’s the wolfsbane,” Roman said and Virgil’s jaw dropped. “He was poisoned. Not by me. By the other guy. We’re gonna have to get an antidote from work. Ammonia should work.”

Virgil blinked a couple times before finally saying, “Not an emetic? Or brandy? We have to go straight to ammonia?”

“Yeah, because he wasn’t injected with it, he was stabbed with it, look at his arm. Come on, Virgil, keep up,” Roman said, snapping. He then started to make his way out of the room. “Now, let’s go, I have dark sheets we can use and they’re not gonna hang up on my windows by themselves.”

In less than an hour, Roman and Virgil had whatever spare sheets they could find duct taped securely around all of his windows. Virgil had thought it would be fine to just cover the windows in Roman’s living room, but Roman preferred to have all his bases covered when dealing with a severely injured vampire.

Roman was rummaging through the medkit he had stored in his bathroom, trying to find the best bandage to dress Logan’s wound with that would also cause the least amount of pain. It was probably something he should have considered doing first, but it was almost two in the morning and he’d been up since seven in the morning so, naturally, he was gonna make some flaws in vampire care.

“Hey, Ro, vampires have a body temperature, right?” Virgil called from the living room.

Roman frowned as he picked up a bandage and surveyed it. “I mean, technically, yeah,” he said. “It’s pretty cold, though. Why?”

“Because wolfsbane makes vampires feverish and such, and Logan here won’t stop shaking, so I was thinking that- _ oh fuck _ .” In the next second, Roman heard what sounded like someone hitting the floor hard and, then, a loud hissing tear through his apartment.

Well, if Logan actually did lie and was planning on attacking him or Virgil, Roman was about to find out.

Roman sprinted into his living room, already thinking of a plan on how to fight a vampire with no weapons or anything. However, instead of finding his best friend being attacked, he just found Virgil on the floor, a (slightly amusing) horrified look on his face, and Logan, awake, hissing viciously from where he was on the couch.

“It’s fine, it’s fine!” Roman said to Logan. When Logan’s hissing cut off, Roman was surprised to find that his weak attempt to stop it actually worked. Logan’s eyes, still dazed, flicked back and forth from Roman and Virgil. “That’s Virgil, my friend.” Logan nodded. Roman was glad that Logan, despite his current state, was coherent enough to be able to process enough of what was happening.

Roman turned to Virgil and smirked. “Got scared?”

“Fuck off, Roman,” Virgil bit. “Forgive me for trying to help with a- with a fucking warm compress, that I don’t even know will actually help, and then he wakes up and starts freaking out!”

“Well, I mean, I’d be scared, too, if you were the first thing I saw when I woke up.”

Virgil pushed himself up off the ground. “Okay, nope, I have reached my limit,” he said. “I have been up since five-A.M. yesterday, and I think you can deal with  _ this _ , so I’m taking a nap in your room.”

“I love you, Virg,” Roman said as Virgil stomped off.

“Fuck you,” Virgil said back before shutting himself in behind Roman’s door.

Roman then turned to Logan with a sheepish smile. “He’s actually really great,” he said, approaching the couch and scooping up the compress off the floor. “Deals with all my bullshit.”

“He seems charming,” Logan murmured, rolling onto his back. He slipped his glasses off, which had been pushed crooked on his face, and set them on the back of the couch.

Roman grinned. “Oh, he is,” he said. “But it’s good to see that you’re feeling… kinda better?”

“The effects fade in and out,” Logan said, letting his eyes slip shut against the light overhead. “I’ll be back to incoherency shortly.”

Roman sighed and nodded. “I know,” he said. “We’re gonna get you the antidote, our lab has it. But, for right now, we covered the windows to keep out the sun when it rises, and there’s this warm compress, but I don’t even know if that will work…”

“It might,” Logan said. “We can try it.”

“Okay,” Roman said quietly. “I’m just gonna-”

“You don’t have to explain every one of your movements,” Logan said, opening his eyes to look at Roman.

“It was- it was just so that you knew what I was doing,” Roman stammered. “I didn’t want to catch you off guard or-”

“Roman, I will be completely honest,” Logan said. “Over the past couple hours, you’ve had multiple opportunities to harm me, and you haven’t. I think I can trust you enough without you explaining everything you’re about to do.”

Roman nodded and, wordlessly, rested the compress on Logan’s forehead. He hadn’t missed Logan’s words beginning to slur together again and knew that whatever rest he got from being unconscious was quickly wearing off. He went and flicked off the lights before coming back, leaning up against the couch.

“You should probably get some more rest, you still don’t look too good,” Roman said. He leaned his head back, letting it knock gently against the arm of the couch. “I wish I had something better to tell you—to give you—than just to get more rest but-” he gave a weak laugh “-I’ve been trained in fighting vampires, not caring for them.”

“For what you have, I think what you’re doing is sufficient,” Logan said. “Thank you.”

“It’s really nothing, I’m just-”

“I’m quite serious, Roman,” Logan said, cracking open an eye again. Roman saw how his eyes reflected in the dark, the red color glowing. “Most people would not have even come any closer when finding a vampire in a dark alley. You, though, have taken one—that you barely know—into your home. So, once again, thank you.”

Roman smiled. “Well, you’re welcome,” he said, his voice quiet and barely filling the darkness. “Though you should really get some rest. We can table this sentimental conversation for a time when you’re not on the brink of delirium and can see my real charms.”

Roman hadn’t expected Logan’s lips to turn up slightly at that. “Perhaps,” he said, shutting his eyes again and settling back into the couch.

\--

Roman didn’t even realize he had fallen asleep sitting against the couch until Virgil was shaking him awake.

“Come on, get up, Sleeping Beauty,” Virgil’s said, his voice barely connecting in Roman’s half-asleep mind. His shoulder was being roughly shaken. “We have to leave in a half hour and we still need to plan what the fuck we’re doing about _ this _ .”

Roman cracked his eyes open to look at Virgil. Roman was about to question him on what he was talking about—it was still dark out, they didn’t have work yet—until he remembered that the two had taped sheets and anything else that could block out the sun over Roman’s windows. And that there was a vampire (currently unconscious) on the couch behind him. And last night hadn’t been a dream; Roman had, in fact, rescued a vampire and took him back to his apartment. 

Roman yawned and stretched until his back cracked into place, sore from sleeping against the couch instead of in a bed, and stood. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he turned to look at Logan and found him trembling. Roman had a feeling that the vampire hadn’t slept well at all, if this poisoned unconsciousness could even be called sleeping, and he couldn’t ignore the spike of pity that went through his heart.

“You know, when I first woke up, I thought this was all some weird dream,” Virgil said from behind him. “I was so ready to meet you at the agency and tell you about this dream I had where you took in a vampire and he was poisoned and I had to help you prepare your place to like, you know, house a vampire because that’s not something that we’re usually trained in.” A pause. “And then I realized that it was real, and I am ten-times more sure that we’re fucked.”

“We’ll be fine,” Roman said, waving his hand dismissively as he turned and walked into his kitchen. He didn’t know if he believed himself, but Roman was a huge defendant of “fake it until you make it”, so everything was fine.

“You know I don’t believe you, right?” Virgil asked, following Roman. He leaned against the counter as Roman started getting a pot of coffee ready, mentally kicking himself for not preparing it last night, but he was rather occupied then.

“Oh, I’m aware,” Roman said with a shrug. “But I mean this in the kindest way when I say that neither of us really have any choice. I feel like we’re kinda in this together now. Might as well try to believe that everything will work out perfectly.”

Virgil sighed with an eye roll. “Fine, whatever.”

Roman grinned “You know, Virgil, the quality I always loved about you was your enthusiasm towards everything.” Virgil flipped him off. “So, then, shall we figure out what we’re doing?”

“You’re not even going to offer me breakfast? Where’s your hospitality?”

“It went out the window with my plans to go grocery shopping yesterday.”

“I can never tell whether or not you have your life together,” Virgil said, shaking his head.

“Yeah, I can’t either,” Roman said, jutting his thumb in Logan’s direction. “Speaking of, I have to get the ammonia from Joan without it looking suspicious. Everyone is going to be expecting us to be stocking up on wolfsbane, not its antidote.”

“And the fact that, if he is actually staying here, Logan’s gonna have to eat eventually,” Virgil said. “After all this, I doubt he’s gonna settle for whatever you have in your fridge. And it’s not gonna be easy for him to be unnoticed if he leaves your apartment, considering that everyone in the city knows to be on the lookout for vampires now.”

“Not to mention the fact that the other vampire is still out there, and was attacking Logan for whatever reason, so there’s nothing to say that they won’t return.” Roman groaned and tore a hand through his hair. “We’re not even planning, we’re just listing everything that’s wrong right now. I think this is more of a ‘come up with as you go’ situation.”

“That really doesn’t help me believe that everything will be fine in the end, Ro.”

In the time that it took for the two to freshen up and get ready for the day, Virgil finding the darkest clothes in Roman’s closet to steal for the day, the coffee was finished brewing and Logan was, once again, awake and staring tiredly around the room.

“Morning, Sunshine,” Roman greeted, walking from the kitchen to his living room with a to-go coffee.

“You do realize the irony in that greeting, yes?” Logan asked. Virgil’s laugh from the kitchen drowned out Roman’s colorful expletive.

“Uh, sorry about that,” Roman continued, smiling sheepishly as he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. “Are you feeling any better?”

“Not particularly.” Roman could hear his exhaustion in his words, how they tumbled out of his mouth instead of flow smoothly.

Roman nodded. “Well, me and Virgil are heading into work now,” he said. “I can get the antidote there and give it to you when I get home. You’ll be recovered and back to doing vampire things in no time.” He then gave Logan a soft smile and was glad to find that Logan, even in his fluctuating state from worse to worser, gave a small one back.

“You’re a very bad monster hunter if you’re encouraging me to do ‘vampire things’,” Logan noted, shutting his eyes again as he nestled into the throw pillow.

“Oh, I’ve already told him enough about that,” Virgil said, coming out of the kitchen.

“Hey,” Roman said, pointing a finger at Virgil. “We came to the conclusion that, as long as his ‘vampire things’ do not involve killing seven people, or any people, he can do whatever his heart desires.” He then grabbed his keys, files, and anything else he thought could be important and shoved them all into the closest bag he could find. “But we have to go. I’ll be back later with the antidote.”

“I’ll be here.”

“You can go to my room if you want,” Roman said, slinging his bag over his shoulder. “I’m sure it’s more comfortable in there.”

“I can’t move without being in pain,” Logan said simply, as if this was some normal occurrence and not a major inconvenience. Though, Roman figured, after being poisoned for hours and it not being fatal, one would probably at least accept the side-effects. “No matter where I am, it’s going to be uncomfortable.”

“I’ll be back soon, then,” Roman assured, though he wasn’t quite sure if it actually helped or not.

\--

By the time Roman and Virgil walked into the lobby of the agency, all they had decided upon was that it should be Roman who goes, alone, to get the antidote from Joan. It was already going to be a hassle explaining to them why Roman needed the antidote for the poison they were meant to use on vampires; it would only look more suspicious if Virgil was with him.

However, before either of them could even think of turning in the direction of the pharmacy, Lockwell poked his head out into the lobby and spotted them. “Prince, Winter, you’re here, good,” he said, swinging the door wider as Roman and Virgil approached and followed him down the corridor. “We have a lot to get done today. I thought we were going to at least have today to get you two reacquainted with your physical training and get used to your equipment, and then begin the hunt tomorrow, but it seems that we have to move everything up on the schedule.”

Roman furrowed his eyebrows. “Why’s that?”

“There was another sighting last night,” Lockwell said. “Fortunately, no one was hurt. Still, though, it was closeby. Right before the corner of fifty-fifth and seventh.” 

Roman’s heart began to beat into overdrive, hammering against his ribs. He forced his legs to continue to carry him as if nothing was wrong.

“The person who reported it said that they couldn’t be too sure, since it was around midnight,” Lockwell continued, not having noticed Roman’s tense jaw. “But they thought they heard fighting that sounded too… large to be animals. There was enough shouting to deem that it was human, but enough hissing to appear that it was something… not quite. They said that their fears were solidified when they saw something human leave the alley, though they couldn’t see any clear details.” Lockwell shook his head. “It’s good that they remained inside and didn’t investigate. The last thing this city needs is another death.”

It was then that Lockwell noticed the wide-eyed stare Virgil was giving Roman. Roman had been trying to signal to Virgil with his eyes to  _ stop fucking stop if we fuck up we’re fucked _ but it seemed that it didn’t translate for Virgil. 

“Virgil, are you alright?” Lockwell asked, raising an eyebrow.

“That was two blocks away from my apartment,” Roman answered instead, not trusting Virgil’s voice to sound like he didn’t know anything. “I was leaving Virgil’s late last night, too.”

“Really?” Lockwell turned to Roman, wide-eyed himself. “And you didn’t see anything?”

Roman shook his head. “No,” he lied. “I must have just missed it. Thank goodness no one was hurt, for even if I was there, I had nothing to defend myself with.”

Lockwell nodded and huffed out a deep breath. “That is true,” he said. “Well, I’m glad that you’re safe. We can’t lose another person to these things, especially you.”

Roman nodded, hoping that whatever expression he wore on his face didn’t show how he was screaming on the inside. Lockwell seemed content with what he saw and lead the two down a cold staircase, the lights buzzing overhead. Roman and Virgil followed, trailing behind him. 

Virgil turned to him and mouthed,  _ Holy shit. _

_ I know, _ Roman mouthed back,

Lockwell lead them down into the agency’s training area where dummies were lined up against the walls and there was enough equipment to make the local gyms jealous. 

“Your trainers will be here soon,” Lockwell said. “We figured, since we’re going to be sending you out once the sun starts to set, it would be better for you to train now so your bodies can recuperate. Your gear is in the backpacks on the rack, make sure to use some of it in this.”

“Thanks Lockwell,” Roman said, turning to find two black bags hanging from hooks in the wall. “We’ll be ready to handle this.” Something about those words felt wrong in Roman’s mouth.

“Very well, then,” Lockwell said. “I’ll be meeting with the both of you later.”

Roman already had his hands on one of the backpack when Lockwell was halfway out the door. He practically tore it open to see what it held: a machete (sheathed, most likely sharpened, good for decapitating vampires), gasoline and matches (enough to burn a vampire), six wooden stakes (good for stabbing vampires in the heart with), multiple needles (also good for stabbing but not as effective, very good for injecting poison) and multiple vials of a swirling black liquid (a poison sticker on each, most definitely wolfsbane, good for severely poisoning vampires with).

No ammonia (good for vampires—Logan specifically—and exactly what Roman needed).

“Just admit it Roman, we’re fucked,” Virgil said quietly, nervously eyeing the contents in his own bag.

“Not if I say we aren’t,” Roman mumbled, zipping his bag shut.

\--

The pharmacy and chemistry lab were open to all agents. It was where they could get any potion they required, or get any that the agency didn’t carry made, if they had a probable cause for needing it. Roman, of course, did not have a probable cause, so he had to hope that the one he was making up as he walked into the pharmacy was good enough.

When Roman pushed open the doors and began to make his way up to the counter, Joan looked up from the book they had in front of them and grinned.

Joan was the agency’s leading pharmacist. While they weren’t the one directly making the potions, they probably had enough knowledge to do it with their eyes closed. They knew what each potion was meant to do, what its side-effects were, and what the proper antidote was if it was poisonous, which most were. They knew practically everything there was to know about potions, and Roman had a feeling he was going to need a much better convincing tactic than batting his eyelashes.

“Hey Roman,” they said, dog-earing a page and shutting their book. “How’s my favorite redhead doing today?”

Roman sighed and leaned on the counter. Dramatically, he blew his hair out of his eyes and shrugged. “Tired, stressed, sore,” he listed off, counting each on his fingers. “In need of a potion.”

“I assumed so,” they said. “If only you ever came in here to just talk to me.”

“Hey, Thomas and Talyn are always in here distracting you,” Roman said. “I, however, completely honor your diligent work and know that this is a place of  _ professionalism _ and that I should never get in your way by-”

“Pump the breaks, Princey,” Joan said with an eye roll. “You don’t have to flatter me this much to get what you want.”

“Well, I am a firm believer that flattery will get me anywhere,” Roman beamed, batting his eyelashes with an exaggerated flourish.

Joan deadpanned at Roman before breaking into a laugh. “Well, we’ll see if it does,” they said. “What do you need?”

“A decent amount of pure concentrated ammonia.”

Joan arched an eyebrow. “For the vampire?”

Roman almost slammed his knee through the counter in surprise, though stopped himself right before he made impact. 

“This vampire case is all anyone has been talking about for the past day,” they continued, turning around to face the rows and rows of potions situated behind them. 

Roman forced his heart to calm down once again. Of course Joan meant the vampire that had been attacking people, and not Logan, unless, of course, Logan  _ was _ that vampire, but Roman had faith in him.

Joan easily navigated the aisles and plucked a clear vial from the shelf. They came back and set it on the counter, finally looking at Roman. “I thought you’d be here for wolfsbane though, not its antidote.”

Roman shrugged. “Isn’t it always good to have an antidote?”

Joan snorted. “For who? The vampire?”

_ For  _ **_a_ ** _ vampire, yes,  _ Roman thought. “For me. This is my first case with Virgil in a while. He might try to poison me if I get too loud or eccentric for him.”

“You? Loud, eccentric? Never,” Joan laughed. “But, Ro, you know that under my guidelines, I need a better reason than that. Even though this is the antidote for a very deadly substance, this one can _ also _ kill you.”

Roman nodded. “I figured that wouldn’t work,” he said with a sheepish smile. “I just think it’s good for us to have an antidote on us. As you said, wolfsbane is a deadly substance for humans. I’d rather be safe than sorry and down one agent.”

Joan nodded. “Yeah, that works,” they said, simply, as they began to pack up the vial. “I believe you’re smart enough, though, to know that this should be your last option? For whatever reason, if you end up ingesting wolfsbane extract, brandy works, an emetic works-”

“Yes, of course,” Roman nodded, accepting the package from them. “This is just for worst-case scenarios.”

“Then you’re good to go,” Joan said, smiling. “And stay safe out there, Roman. Some freaky shit is going on with all of this.”

“Oh, tell me about it,” Roman laughed, walking out of the pharmacy.

\--

After scouring the whole town with Virgil, driving every street in one of the company cars and walking down every alley on foot, their search came up inconclusive, even when they drove around the entire city a second time (and a third, just to be sure).

Roman sighed as Virgil pulled up in front of Roman’s apartment. The clock on the dashboard said that it was almost eleven o’clock and Roman’s body said that it was time for him to sleep for three days straight. Of course, though, that wouldn’t be happening anytime soon. They were told to prepare for late nights, and this was just the start of it.

“I’m not saying that I want anything bad to happen,” Roman said, leaning his head back against the headrest. “But it’s kinda weird that this vampire rages for seven days straight and then suddenly vanishes. Like, not even a sign of vampires in this entire town.”

“Maybe because there’s a fifty perfect chance, at least, that he’s in your apartment,” Virgil muttered. Roman slid him a glare that Virgil only returned.

“You seriously can’t think that Logan is the one doing this,” Roman said, rolling his eyes.

“Actually, yeah, I seriously can, Roman,” Virgil snapped. “I’m not saying that your speech on trusting people wasn’t nice, or that I regret helping you, but you also can’t say that you’re seriously ruling him out!” He sighed and flicked his hair out of his eyes. “Listen, I’m not telling you to kick him out on the streets or fight him or whatever. There’s just… as of right now there seems to only be one other vampire out here, maybe. It’s just noticeable that all this stuff stopped once you took Logan in.”

“Exactly though, there’s another one out there,” Roman said. “Maybe more. I just… I feel that if I rescued the murderous vampire, we would have been dead by now.”

“Possibly,” Virgil said. He then worried his bottom lip, dragging a hand through his hair, before continuing, “Listen, Ro, don’t take this any more heartfelt or angsty than it has to be, but you’re this guy with a heart of gold who wants to trust Logan. I get that, okay? You’re practically helping save his life and he’s trusting you enough to let you do that. But… I think it’s okay to have some suspicion, especially when you only met him last night. I don’t want to see you get hurt, and this is much more serious than, like, a guy breaking your heart or something.”

Roman huffed out a breath. “I get it,” he said. “Thanks, Virg.” He then looked out the car window at his apartment and squinted at the windows. Luckily, the sheets were dark enough to make it seem like all the lights were off, and not just sheets taped on. “But I should get up there. Gotta be a hero and all. Maybe I’ll even get some answers out of him.”

“I’ll get you tomorrow morning since we’ll have this car for however long we need it,” Virgil said as Roman climbed out of the car. Roman nodded and grabbed his bags from the back, slamming the car door shut; Virgil didn’t drive away until Roman entered the complex.

Roman didn’t realize how tired he was until he started climbing the stairs up to his apartment. All he wanted to do was sleep, but first, he had a vampire to take care of and possibly interrogate in a really nice way. Like,  _ really _ nice. Like,  _ hey-since-I’m-being-so-nice-maybe-you-can-tell-me-everything-without-me-even-asking _ nice.

When Roman unlocked his door, he found Logan lying on the couch just as he had been that morning, his eyes open and on Roman, reflecting whatever light managed to reach them.

“Hey,” Roman greeted, tossing his bags down on the nearest chair.

“You’re back,” Logan noted, as if he expected Roman to never return.

“I am, just like I told you I’d be,” Roman said, rummaging through his backpack until he found the package from the pharmacy. “You didn’t think I’d just leave you up here alone forever, did you? Oh, that’d be torture. Forever is a very long time, especially for you.” Roman grinned at Logan only to receive a stare back.

“Well, I have amazing news,” Roman continued. “I got the antidote with minimum suspicion!”

“Wonderful,” Logan said, his voice lacking any cheer.

“I know right?” Roman said. “Like, I thought I was gonna have to do some hardcore convincing, but nope! I just had to make it seem like me and Virgil might accidentally poison ourselves with wolfsbane, which would suck, because it’s very fatal to us. And werewolves. But not you.”

“For a man who’s been out for most of his day, you sure do talk a lot.”

“You’ll get used to it,” Roman said and flicked on the lights. He had to work to keep a frown off his face when he got a good look at Logan.

Logan looked worse than he did the night before, except differently than what Roman would have expected. If Logan was feverish the night before, Roman had expected him to be completely gone by now, so drugged up on poison that he couldn’t even think straight. Instead, Logan just looked like he was just… fading away. His brown hair hung limp and his red eyes appeared as if they were losing the brightness of their hue. His face looked sunken in and drained of any color that was left in it. Logan’s movements were slow, tired, and Roman noted how much energy it took for Logan to prop himself up on his elbow and slide his glasses on.

Roman knew wolfsbane wasn’t fatal to vampires, he _ knew _ that, but he was still grateful that he was able to get the antidote today and not in a couple of days from now. 

“So how are we doing this?” Roman asked, unwrapping the package. “Because you didn’t ingest it, you were stabbed with it, so drinking this probably won’t work? Like, I don’t know how-”

“Do you have something to inject it with?” Logan asked, arching an eyebrow at Roman.

“Actually, yes, I do,” Roman said, taking out one of the needles and presenting it, rather proudly, to Logan.

“Put the ammonia in it,” Logan instructed.

“Aright,” Roman said, approaching Logan as he assembled the needle, pouring the antidote into the barrel. “I’m letting you know, though, I don’t know if you want me doing this. Surprisingly, I’m sorta grossed out by needles and I-”

Roman, apparently, didn’t have to worry about doing it himself because, the moment the needle was securely assembled, Logan snatched it out of his grip. Roman didn’t have time to recognize what was happening until Logan had stabbed the needle into his own arm, right above where the stab wound was. 

Roman wouldn’t admit it if anyone asked, but he gasped rather loudly at seeing that. He believed he would have felt pretty lightheaded if he wasn’t so mesmerized by how, instantaneously, the stab wound began to heal and close up.

“That works that fast?” Roman asked without really thinking about how stupid it probably sounded.

However, though, instead of shooting him a look or rolling his eyes, Logan just nodded as he removed the empty needle and set it on the table. “For physical wounds, yes,” he said. “And then, just like how it takes only about ten, fifteen, minutes for wolfsbane to take its toll, its antidote only takes about the same amount of time to clear it out.”

According to what Logan said, he still had about fourteen minutes and thirty seconds to be completely healed; Roman thought he was already looking better, though. His complexion had already begun to regain its smoothness and he already looked less, well,  _ dead _ . 

“Well, I’m glad it’s working so quickly,” Roman said, smiling.

Logan smiled back, his fangs slightly poking out over his bottom lip. “I am, too,” he said. “I have to thank you again, Roman, for doing all of this. When I found out your profession, I half-expected you to kill me.”

Roman shrugged. “You didn’t do anything wrong,” he said. “I don’t typically like going into situations ready to fight, and with you, I had no reason to. Besides, all I had was a shit pocket knife. You would’ve laughed at me. It would’ve been really embarrassing.” Logan snorted. 

“You approach a vampire in an alley in the middle of the night, and you’re worried about what I will think of your weapon of choice,” Logan said, shaking his head with a small smile. “You are a magnificently terrible hunter.”

“I’m actually the head monster hunter.”

Logan nodded, and Roman noted that he almost looked impressed. “I’m pretty sure this is the exact opposite of your job.”

“Oh it definitely is. About that, though, I don’t know what’s gonna happen but, like, this has to be our little secret,” Roman said. “Only one other person from my agency knows that, and it’s Virgil. One person knowing is the limit.”

“It’s understandable,” Logan said, nodding. “I’m sure your boss wouldn’t be happy with you right now.” 

Roman huffed and nodded. “Also, speaking of what’s going on, you’re free to stay here for as long as you like. I mean, unless you have somewhere else to return to.”

Logan sighed. “Not anymore, or at least not for a while.”

The answer was vague enough to pique Roman’s curiosity but clipped enough to know that Roman shouldn’t press.

“Then stay as long as you wish,” Roman said. “It’s just me here, if you haven’t caught on yet. Sometimes Virgil practically lives here, but I digress. And I don’t have neighbors, because the better apartment building is down the street and everyone wants to live there. So, you’re safe here!”

“That’s good to know,” Logan said, standing up from the couch and stretching up towards the ceiling, popping everything into place after being on a couch for an entire time. Roman hadn’t realized it when Logan was a shivering, poisoned mess, but Logan stood a good couple inches over him. “If it’s alright with you, however, I wouldn’t mind freshening up. I’ve had… a day.” He let out a clipped laugh.

After Roman directed Logan to where everything was and found clothes that would fit him, Roman flopped down on his bed as he heard the shower in the next room turn on.

He slipped his phone out of his pocket and sent a quick text to Virgil:

**[11:17] Logan’s better now. Hasn’t eaten me yet :)**

In seconds, Virgil replied back:

**[11:17] unfortunate**

**[11:18] try to get answers from him if u can**

**[11:20] stay safe**

\--

When Roman heard Logan leave the bathroom, he figured that he might as well try to get some answers. He walked out of his room and past the bathroom, that was currently steaming out, and found Logan back on the couch, staring at the covered windows. He was in one of Roman’s old sweatshirts and sweatpants and—despite their height difference— with his lanky frame, Logan looked as if he was swimming in it. His glasses had slid down the bridge of his nose.

“You don’t have to keep the windows like that,” Logan said.

Roman furrowed his eyebrows, sitting down on the other side of the couch. “Doesn’t the sun bother you?”

“Well, yes, it can be a bit of a headache,” he said, turning to face Roman. “But I don’t think you should have to change your entire apartment to accommodate me.”

Roman shrugged and flashed a grin. “Hey, I am all for being a hospitable host,” he said. “So if the sun’s gonna bother you, the windows will stay covered.”

Logan smiled in return. “That’s very kind of you, Roman,” he said. “Once again, I must thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” Roman assured. “I’m just helping you out.” He then trailed off, staring around his apartment before turning back to Logan. “But I do have some questions, if you don’t mind.”

Logan nodded. “I’ll answer what I can.” His words were slow and Roman pushed himself past the slight reluctance he heard. He had to try, that was all he could do right now.

“Well, are you going to be okay staying here?” Roman started. “Because, this isn’t me taking back my offer, but I was just thinking, like… you have to feed eventually. And that’s, like, the one thing I can’t really offer, because I doubt that you want human food.” He paused. “Well, I mean, you could use me as long as it wouldn’t kill me so-”

Logan shook his head. “You’re right, I’ll need to feed eventually,” he said. “But it’s not going to be from you.”

“What? O-negative not your type?” Roman smirked. “It’s the universal donor.”

Logan rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to drink from you because I don’t want to risk mating with you,” he said. “You’d be tied to me for as long as you live—which would be a long time— and, looking past the fact that we have only known each other a day, it’s not something that you can risk with your profession. Housing me is already a big enough risk.”

“But you’ll be okay here?”

“I’ll manage for right now,” he said. “And, eventually, I’ll go out into the woods surrounding here and make do.”

“Fair enough,” Roman said.

“Do you have other questions?”

“Yeah, I do,” he continued. “Honestly, this question has been haunting me ever since I found you. What happened to you? Why were you attacked?”

Logan sighed and looked up to the light, squinting, before turning his gaze back to the window. “I don’t know,” he said. “I was just out and then I was attacked by another vampire.”

Roman furrowed his eyebrows. “You mean, you didn’t know them? Then why would they attack you?”

“No, I didn’t know who they were,” Logan said. “And vampires are naturally territorial creatures. If one fears that there’s soon to be an absence of resources, they’re more likely to attack any other vampire who comes too close to where they reside. Perhaps they thought I was after their humans.”

“So you were attacked by the one that’s been killing humans.”

“Perhaps,” Logan continued, turning back to him. “It’s all I can guess.”

“Alright,” Roman said, nodding. “And who’s Patton?”

Logan’s shoulders tensed, a quick movement, and Roman had a feeling that he struck a nerve.

“A friend,” Logan said, his voice clipped.

“You seemed very intent on finding him,” Roman said. “You said that you two lived together. That he would know what to do.”

“Yes, he’s my very close friend,” Logan said.

“Is he another vampire?”

“No.”

Something put Roman off on the way Logan said such a simple word. He said it with a blank face, practically staring through Roman, and then it hit him. Logan was lying, obviously lying; he made no point to hide it. He knew who this Patton was, but he seemed rather dedicated to Roman not finding out who he was.

Roman suddenly had a feeling that Logan was lying about more than just who his friend was and began to think that he knew more about this other vampire than he was letting on.

Virgil’s words started creeping back into his mind. He started to believe that Virgil was right, that he should be slightly suspicious. Yet, he wasn’t going to press. Pressing on matters that Logan wasn’t ready to reveal yet seemed like it would only lead to more trouble.

Roman figured that, to find out the truth, there was still some trust he had to earn from the vampire that went past saving his life.

\--

That morning, Roman realized that finding out the actual truth from Logan was going to be much more complicated than it already was.

That morning, Logan was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading!!! feedback is greatly appreciated!!!
> 
> ethospathoslogan.tumblr.com


	3. chapter three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite the case only being on for a couple days, Roman had a feeling that every resident of the city expected the nightly patrols. They came with each case, but this one was different. This one wasn’t just fighting; it was finding someone who didn’t wish to be found.
> 
> It was like a game of cat and mouse, and Roman didn’t know his role in it yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warnings: slight violence, a lot of cursing, panicking

_ Everything was fine. Everything was completely, totally, one-hundred-percent fine. _

Roman believed that if he told himself that enough, he would begin to believe it. He just had to reason with himself that there were multiple reasons why Logan left.

_ Reason number one: _ Vampires had to feed eventually. He probably left to hunt. Roman just hoped that he wasn’t hunting humans.

_ Reason number two: _ Logan  _ was _ actually hunting humans and Roman fucked up big time by taking care of him.

(That was the reason Roman prayed wasn’t the case.)

_ Reason number three: _ Logan was never obligated to stay.

_ Reason number four: _ Logan just needed Roman to heal him and always planned on leaving once he was healthy.

_ Reason number five: _ Logan never trusted Roman in any way outside of letting Roman take care of him and decided to leave for his own safety.

( _ Reason number five, subsection B:  _ Logan was the smart one all along by not throwing all his trust in a person he knew for a day. Roman was as much of a danger to Logan as Logan was to him, so it would make sense for Logan to not really trust him and bolt when he finally got the opportunity to do so.)

Roman groaned and sunk down onto his couch. He dropped his head into his hands, taking a deep breath to stabilize himself. He was an idiot for believing that him trusting Logan would make Logan do the same. Still, though, he had much bigger problems to face than his sensitive ego being wounded by the fact that a man he only knew for a day didn’t trust him.

Like the fact that Virgil was on his way to pick him up to go to work—at a monster hunting agency that was focusing on vampires—and there were currently at least two vampires on the run.

Everything was fine. Totally. Definitely. One-hundred percent.

When Virgil pulled up in front of Roman’s apartment, he went to greet him with a hope to make it seem as if things were normal. He swung open the door door and tossed his bag on the floor before getting into the passenger seat.

“Hey,” Roman said, forcing a smile.

When Virgil narrowed his eyes at Roman in scrutiny, Roman knew that Plan A of this day was already out the window.

“You seem stressed,” Virgil noted. “It’s not even nine-A.M yet.”

“I don’t think you have room to talk,” Roman deflected. “Mr. Panic At The Everywhere.”

“Okay, fair,” Virgil shrugged. “Still doesn’t explain why you’re so tense.”

“How do you know I’m tense? I just got here. I could be having the best morning of my life.”

“Because I’ve seen you practically every day for the past seven years,” Virgil said as he began to drive towards the agency. “I’m pretty good at being able to tell when you’re stressed and lying to me about not feeling stressed.”

Roman leaned his head against the window. “Virg, I’m fine.”

“Is it Logan?” At Roman’s silence, Virgil continued with, “Oh shit, it is, isn’t it? Roman, if he did anything to you, I swear I’ll-”

“He didn’t do anything to me,” Roman cut off, louder than he meant. Virgil raised an eyebrow and Roman sighed. “He wasn’t there to do anything.”

“What does that even mean?”

“It means that I woke up and he was gone.”

Virgil slammed on the breaks so hard that Roman jolted forward into his seatbelt. He wasn’t glad no one was behind them because then they would’ve had yet another problem to deal with.

“Virgil, keep driving-”

“Please, Roman,  _ please _ tell me that by ‘gone’, you mean ‘oh man Logan was  _ gone _ ’ like passed the fuck out and not missing from your apartment.”

“Please keep driving.”

“Oh my God,” Virgil groaned as he finally continued to drive. Roman huffed out a breath and stared out the window at the alleys and buildings they drove past. “And he didn’t leave anything? Didn’t say anything?”

Roman shook his head. “I woke up and my apartment was empty,” he said. “I’m assuming that he bolted because he didn’t want to be stuck in a small space with a hunter.” He shrugged. “Disappointed but not necessarily surprised.” Okay, that was a lie. Roman was a little surprised. 

(A lot surprised. But that was just Roman being Roman.)

“Disappointed?” Virgil asked.

“Oh, you know me, Virgil,” Roman said. “Always trusting everyone I meet with open arms, expecting them to do the same. Most people are smarter than that, though.”

Virgil sighed. “Listen, don’t be so… like  _ that _ on yourself,” he said. “I’m still a firm believer that it’s perfectly fine to go into a situation like this with a little skepticism. It might be for the best that he’s out of your hands, and you out of his.”

“Does disappearing make you further believe that he’s guilty?”

“Well, disappearing definitely doesn’t help his case,” Virgil said, pulling into the agency’s parking garage. “But it makes sense, in my opinion. Like, it was really nice that you helped him out, and really nice that he let you. But with our job, and his… vampirism, it was really risky for both of you to be near each other, let alone interacting.”

Roman rolled his eyes. “You’re probably right and I hate it.”

“Sorry about that,” Virgil said, parking the car. “But we gotta go in and you have to act like you weren’t just stood up in the weirdest way possible. You good to do that?”

Roman let out a laugh and nodded. “I think I’ll manage.”

“Good,” Virgil said, grabbing his own bag before getting out of the car. Roman followed suit, swinging the door shut. “I don’t know whether or not it’d be a good or a bad thing if we see him on our run today, so let’s just hope that something not terrible happens?”

“I’ve always appreciated your optimism, Virgil,” Roman said, following his friend into the agency.

\--

Naturally, because this was just how Roman’s day was going to pan out, there were two possible vampire sightings early that morning. Of course neither witness could truly be sure of what they saw, but by now everyone in the city was told to be aware for vampires, so everyone was a bit on edge whenever they saw someone lurking around. The agency typically didn’t release such grave warnings so early on in a case, but with seven people dead, the higher ups figured that they’d rather have the people of the city be paranoid than dead.

Sighting number one, as Roman had been told by practically everyone before he even got to Lockwell’s office, was at where the woods met the city. The storeowner who called it in said they had seen them through their window and thought it was just a person on a walk, despite it being so early. This is, they thought that until the figure suddenly stopped in their tracks and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. So, with the given evidence, Roman figured that that was the other vampire he saw in the alley. Of course, though, to tell people that would mean that Roman would have to talk about Logan, and he preferred to be employed, so he had to act like he knew nothing.

The second sighting—this one perhaps more speculative—was downtown. This one claimed to have seen the assumed vampire standing outside the apartment complex that had almost burned down just a few days back. The person claimed of no true oddities, no disappearing into smoke or sprinting away at inhuman speeds, just standing outside the complex for an extended period of time before walking away. The witness admitted that they just called the sighting in to be safe, and that they doubted the location had any relevance. However, though, the agency couldn’t ignore it _ because _ of the location.

Dr. Meyer and the rest of the forensics team hadn’t known it then, but the seven victims of the vampire attack were all connected, at least somewhat. The victims were all lone wolfs, no emergency contacts, no family in the area to claim the bodies. They were all able to disappear without anyone there to really notice. They seemed to have no true connections to anyone else in the world. 

Except, however, to each other.

Investigators discovered that all seven victims came from the same apartment complex. The same floor, actually. They were unable to question the landlord because, unfortunately, she perished in the fire that ransacked it a couple nights prior. However, no one could ignore that the victims were all from the same place of residency. Coincidences like that just didn’t happen.

Roman believed, though, that any investigation into that part of the case might as well be a dead end. The victims were dead along with the one person who could have truly given information on who they were, no other witnesses could be found because that complex was one of the more run-down ones that not many people located, and—the biggest issue of all—most of the evidence had been burned down. The fire had already reached all three floors by the time firefighters were able to put it out.

It all seemed like a dead end, but Roman didn’t forget how Logan said he and this Patton used to be downtown. Once again, not a huge help for Logan’s case.

Roman huffed out a breath as he closed the newly updated forensic file. He was back in one of the conference rooms, Virgil sitting to his right and Lockwell across from them. He looked up to his boss, running a hand through his hair.

“So, what, we’re saying that the vampire had a connection to the fire, too?” Roman asked.

“It had a connection to something,” Lockwell said. “This… I will admit that this part of the case is more speculative. But we cannot ignore how seven people, all from the same complex, go missing a day apart from each other and then the complex, a near vacant one, is burned down.”

“But what are we going to do about this?” Virgil asked. “We’re just the hunters. Isn’t finding all of this the police’s job?”

“In a normal case, yes,” Lockwell said. “We are the ones who find the monsters, the police are the ones that deal with what happened. This, however, is not a normal case. This is a murder case, yes, but the culprit is a vampire who has yet to be found. Now that there’s apparently two, and still no true evidence to point to who they are, we have to take what we can get and work with it.”

“So then what’s the next plan of action?” Roman asked, leaning back in his chair. 

“At sunset, you two are going to go out on another hunt,” Lockwell instructed. “Start with the edge of the woods and then move downtown. Of course don’t dismiss the rest of the city, but at least we now have a start to where we can possibly find this killer.”

Roman then stood up from his chair, Virgil following. “Is that all, then?”

“One last thing,” Lockwell said. “As of right now, we only think that one vampire has done this. However, it now seems like we have more than one on our hands.” He waited until Virgil and Roman nodded to continue, “Do not let that stop you from doing what you have to do. Having these things in our city will only bring more harm before it starts doing any good. If you come into contact with any of these vampires, do not worry about innocence or what’s humane. Nothing about these things are humane, and no matter how good some may seem, they will only end up turning on everyone to save themselves. You both have every possible weapon you could need for a reason. Don’t forget to use them.”

Roman swallowed down whatever was lumped in this throat—nerves? guilt?— and nodded. 

“Got it, Chief,” he forced himself to say.

Okay, so maybe everything wasn’t fine.

\--

The sun was almost completely set over the horizon, shooting out its last bit of orange and pink rays as the over encompassing darkness started to take over, and Roman was thrilled when he and Virgil discovered that there was nothing remotely alarming by the woods. The last thing Roman wanted to do was venture into the woods as the sun was setting, especially since he knew that they would have to face a lot more problems than just vampires in there.

Still, though, the thrill was at least slightly cancelled out because they still had to check downtown, and then the rest of the city, and then wash, rinse, repeat two more times, at least.

“So, about what Lockwell said,” Virgil said, his voice barely disturbing the silence that had settled over the car. His fingers tapped erratically on the wheel.

“The guy is sure gunning for the eradication of all vampires,” Roman said, staring out the window. They drove past countless amounts of people, all heading home from work or out with friends, and all Roman found himself concerned about was what was lurking in the shadows, in the places where none of those people could see. That, and whether or not he protected a vampire from what was lurking or if he protected what was doing the lurking.

“I always knew Lockwell was a tough guy,” Virgil said. “Didn’t think he’d be so merciless.”

“Because in every other situation, it was a clean ‘us’ against ‘them’,” Roman sighed. “Now, there’s all this grey area because we don’t know who’s doing what. He thinks it better to just erase the problem completely.”

“And what do we think?”

“I don’t know about you,” Roman said. “But, unless Logan is the one doing all of this and I really fucked up, I’m thinking about keeping Logan as far away as possible from everything that has to do with the agency.”

“Come on, Ro, you know this is a ‘we’ problem now. Don’t take all the credit.” Virgil flashed him a grin that Roman returned with an eye roll. “And considering that he ran from you, I have a feeling that Logan is thinking the same thing.”

Roman huffed and Virgil shot him a look. “Don’t be so disappointed,” he continued. “It’s not a good look on you.”

“Everything’s a great look on me.”

Virgil laughed and nodded. “Sure,” he said. “But, let’s be real here, Ro. I know that you were getting attached because that’s how you are, and, though I hate to admit it, that’s an admirable trait. Leads to heartbreak, yeah, but still, you’re loyal.” He sighed. “But, as I’ve said,  _ this _ is something that will probably be easier for the both of you.”

“Yeah, I know,” Roman begrudgingly mumbled as Virgil began driving into the streets of downtown. An area isolated from the business of the agency and the general hustle and bustle of Main Street, it was the more quiet, reserved area of the city. If someone wished to stay under the radar, they stayed downtown.

_ A perfect place for a vampire,  _ Roman thought.

“Alright, time to get a move on,” Virgil said, pulling up to a curb on a sidestreet.

“Look at you with your dazzling work ethic,” Roman commented, grabbing his bag from the back as Virgil parked.

“Listen, the sooner we’re done, the sooner I can go home and sleep,” Virgil said, turning off the car and getting out. He grabbed his own bag out of the back and slung it over his shoulder, Roman getting out and doing the same.

“Fair enough,” Roman agreed, closing the car door with his hip. 

The streets were dark now, the sun having set in the final moments of their drive. The street lights were on above them, leaving patches of light where everything outside of it seemed desolate. On this side street, Roman and Virgil were the only people in sight.

“You know,” Roman said as they began walking to the main road. “This place never seemed creepy until two vampires showed up. And that’s assuming there isn’t more.”

“Why don’t you say it louder?” Virgil asked. “They might not have heard you right.”

“Hey, you’re with the Head Hunter right here!” Roman beamed. “I’d be more worried about yourself if I were you.”

“I really hate that you’re basically my boss,” Virgil said. “Have I ever told you that?”

“Oh, a countless amount of times,” Roman said, laughing. “Usually with colorful expletives. But hey! You get to spend every day with me, which is pretty amazing.”

Virgil rolled his eyes but the small smile on his lips wasn’t missed. “Sure, if you say so,” he said.

The pair fell into a comfortable silence as they continued their trek down the street. Lights flicked on and off in the apartments above and soft music could be heard as they walked past the various restaurants. The people who happened to notice the two sent glances to them, taking in the black uniforms and the flashlights and badges clipped to their holsters. Despite the case only being on for a couple days, Roman had a feeling that every resident of the city expected the nightly patrols. They came with each case, but this one was different. This one wasn’t just fighting; it was finding someone who didn’t wish to be found.

It was like a game of cat and mouse, and Roman didn’t know his role in it yet.

As they walked on, their sneakers hitting lightly against the ground, Roman made note of the alleys they passed. They all stretched down farther than they could see, even when shining their flashlights down them. The two seemed to have an unspoken agreement that they wouldn’t travel down any of them, at least not the first time around, if there seemed no reason to.

However, that meant, of course, that when there was a reason, they had to swallow down whatever nerves wanted to creep up their throats and walk down one.

Roman realized that that would soon be required when he heard a scuffle, such as a shoe hitting pavement, down the fourth alley they came across.

Him and Virgil shared a look, both halting their walk. Roman, with more hesitation than he would’ve liked to admit, shone his flashlight down the alley.

And nearly choked on his heart when it leaped to his throat at seeing glowing yellow eyes—only glowing yellow eyes— staring back at him.

Roman couldn’t tell if whatever happened next took one second or one hour. The thing— _ the vampire this is definitely the vampire _ —disappeared into a puff of smoke, Roman and Virgil were already tearing into their bags, another cloud of black smoke in the corner of Roman’s eye, his bag being knocked onto the pavement, an arm being wrapped around his waist too tight from behind, a yellow gloved hand being throw over his mouth, Virgil lifting a needle filled with a swirling black liquid over his head, and-

And Roman disappearing into a puff of smoke only to return somewhere else a second later.

Virgil was nowhere in sight, he had no weapons on him, not even his flashlight to at least hit something with, and something,  _ someone _ , hissed into his ear, “I wouldn’t bother fighting.”

Fuck.

The vampire, his grip firm, spun Roman to face him so fast he thought for sure his neck was going to break.

The first thing he saw was the yellow eyes, glinting in the barely there light of the new alley. They had black slits for pupils and Roman felt that, now that he saw them, he wasn’t going to be who he was just moments prior. A deep, jagged scar cut from the vampire’s forehead, through his left eyebrow—most likely having just missed blinding him—and down his cheek and across his lip. He was grinning at Roman, or snarling, or maybe even speaking, but Roman was too horrified by the row of fangs he was met with to notice.

“Roman!” Virgil screamed from somewhere that sounded too close and too far at the same time. His heartbeat and Virgil’s words echoed around him, bouncing off the walls as if every sound in the world was there with them in that alley and a thousand miles away. “ _ Roman! _ ”

Roman opened his mouth to say something, to scream, to shout, he didn’t know, he didn’t know-

“Oh, I wouldn’t bother speaking,” the vampire said, tilting his head. “It won’t save you now.” 

The yellow eyes flashed and Roman’s breath caught in his throat as he tried to force out words that didn’t exist anymore.

The vampire removed one of his hands from his grip on Roman’s shoulders and grasped Roman’s jaw, tilting Roman’s head this way and that as if inspecting him. Roman couldn’t keep his eyes off the yellow ones in front of them, those eyes,  _ those eyes _ -

When Roman, with a now free hand, tried to push the vampire away, hoping that a blow to his chest would get him to stagger back, the vampire slammed him into the alley wall with enough force to send shooting pain up Roman’s spine.

“Don’t struggle.” The eyes flashed and Roman felt as if he no longer inhabited his body. He couldn’t speak, couldn’t move, and, with how much he struggled to breathe, he wouldn’t be surprised if his lungs were caving in. “That makes everything so  much more difficult.”

Roman had nothing left to do.

“It’s so funny that we should meet again,” he said, keeping Roman pinned to the wall with just the grip on his jaw. “Coming down that alley, I knew you looked familiar.” He then laughed, his fangs bared to Roman. “You, my friend, seem to have a knack for being where you shouldn’t.”

_ Where’s Virgil where’s Virgil where’s Virgil where’s- _

“I should really thank you, though, for taking care of Logan for me,” he continued. “Him and that other one can be such a pain, you know? But, hey, you made my job a lot easier. He must have stood no chance against you.” He smirked. “He couldn’t even stand.”

Roman’s mind faltered more than it already was.

This vampire thought he killed Logan. He didn’t know that Roman brought Logan back with him, didn’t know that Logan was back out on the streets somewhere.

Roman wanted to be happy, then, that Logan hadn’t run into this one, but Roman found it incredibly difficult to be happy when he was positive he was about to die.

“But I apologize, despite all you have done for me, I can’t let you go,” he said, his voice all too calm to be delivering such a threat. “I think you know too much for that to be the safe thing to-”

“Roman!” Virgil shouted once more, his voice exploding down the alleyway, enough to cause both Roman’s and the vampire’s head to snap in his direction. Virgil was already only a few steps away from them, his machete held above his head in preparation to strike, and on the downswing, the vampire vanished into smoke and Roman collapsed to the ground.

Which was probably good, because Roman was sure that Virgil might have beheaded him, too, which definitely wouldn’t have been good.

Roman thought he was going to choke on his breaths, his lungs gasping for as much air as he could get while unspoken words now tried to force their way out. His head spun and he was too aware, too aware of his wheezing gasps and his movements and of how he could still feel the iron grip on his jaw.

“- _ fuck _ , Roman,” Roman realized then that Virgil was speaking. Virgil’s bag was discarded on the pavement, his machete not far, “Holy shit. Oh my God.” He crouched down in front of Roman, eye-level with him. Roman noted that his hands were trembling. His own were, too. “Fuck, are you okay? Are you hurt?”

Virgil reached out to Roman as if to touch him and Roman threw his hands up. “Please don’t,” he managed out, his voice rough after being taken from him.

“Okay, okay, I won’t touch you,” Virgil rushed out. He looked panicked and, even during all of this, Roman found himself feeling guilty over making his friend worry. Shit. Fuck. He was making Virgil worry and if Virgil had gotten there only a second later-

Roman rasped in a deep breath at the thought and, without thinking, reached out and grabbed one of Virgil’s hands. He was sure Virgil was able to feel Roman’s pulse through the touch, or maybe that was Roman feeling Virgil’s.

“It’s okay, Roman, you’re-”

“Thank you,” Roman whispered, squeezing Virgil’s hand.

Virgil gave him a look. “You don’t have to thank me, Roman,” he said, his voice soft. “You’re my best friend, it’s what I do.” Roman nodded, his throat suddenly tightening at the statement. “I’m gonna call Lockwell to let him know what happened and then we’re driving back.”

“But he’s still out there-”

“Yeah, exactly, he is and he came after you,” Virgil said, his tone sharp. Roman averted his eyes, worrying his bottom lip and Virgil sighed. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I just… you scared me a lot, Roman. Not that you  _ meant _ for that to happen but, one second you were there, and then the next you weren’t.”

“Sorry,” Roman mumbled.

“Hey, you don’t get to apologize for this,” Virgil said. “There’s no reason for you to.” He then gave Roman one of his softer smiles, the kind not many people got to see. “At least we know what he looks like now.”

“It’s not Logan.”

Virgil huffed out a laugh. “You’re right,” he said. “It’s not. Which is good, I think. Clears us of any guilty conscience over helping a creepy vampire killer.” He then blew his hair out of his eyes, getting a good look at Roman. “But it’s okay to, like, think about yourself right now. What you just went through was… a lot, so use that obnoxious ego that you have and worry about yourself for right now.”

Roman couldn’t help but let out a small laugh at that. “Okay.”

\--

From what Roman heard of the conversation Virgil had on the phone with Lockwell, Lockwell didn’t seem too happy about what just happened. Roman couldn’t tell if it was because Roman almost died or because the vampire got away. Roman, though, found himself not too concerned about it; once his panic subsided, it was replaced with an unrelenting exhaustion that hung down on his bones. He was staring out the window and would occasionally feel Virgil’s eyes nervously flick to him and then back to the road.

“Everything’s going to be fine,” Virgil said, his words too rushed to be much comfort. Roman still appreciated the sentiment.

“Look at you being all optimistic,” Roman murmured. At Virgil’s silence, Roman sighed and continued, “I don’t think I can properly express how much what you did means to me.”

“I told you, Ro, you don’t have to-”

“I know what you said,” Roman interjected. “I don’t care. You’re my best friend and you saved my life. I’m going to thank you.”

When Virgil, once again, stayed silent, Roman turned towards him and saw Virgil’s hands clenching the wheel so hard, he thought Virgil might break it. “I’m sorry,” he finally said.

Roman arched an eyebrow. “For what?”

“I feel like I could’ve done something.”

“Virgil, you  _ did  _ do something.”

“Something  _ more _ ,” Virgil said. He worried his bottom lip as they pulled into the company’s garage. “When he disappeared with you, I thought that was it. You were gone, and I would be here alone, and I could’ve been faster and-”

“Hey, you’re not allowed to be self deprecating right now,” Roman said, shaking his head.

Virgil sighed and parked. He leaned his head back against the headrest and squeezed his eyes shut. “You’re right. We should be worrying about you, not-”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Roman said. “You’re not allowed to be self deprecating because you didn’t do anything wrong. We could go around in circles for hours about how you think that you could’ve been faster and how I could’ve been more aware, and it’s not gonna get us anywhere. But everything you did was what you needed to do.”

Virgil turned to Roman and smiled, which Roman gladly returned. “Just don’t go almost getting killed on me anymore, alright?” he asked quietly.

“Deal,” Roman said. “The same goes for you.”

\--

When Roman and Virgil walked into the lobby, it was as if he could feel the atmosphere shift from bad to worse. Lockwell must have told the entire agency what happened—it only made sense to do so—and Roman was suddenly aware of how every eye turned to him. Small groups of people were clustered here or there, scientists whispering behind folders, off-duty hunters sending Roman wary glances, and Roman heard the receptionist whisper quietly into the phone, “Please tell Mr. Lockwell that Roman just arrived.”

Roman swiped his ID card, going through the normal formalities without really thinking of much else. Virgil followed behind him, and as people quickly looked away from Roman, he could only assume that Virgil was shooting daggers to anyone who was staring.

Roman noticed that Thomas and Talyn, two of his hunters, were uncomfortably sitting on the loveseat situated against the wall. Roman narrowed his eyes as their black uniforms, equipped badges, and bags on their back. As he approached them, their heads whipped towards him and Thomas gave him a small wave and an even smaller smile that looked like a grimace.

“Hey Roman,” he said. His voice was quiet and barely reached Roman. “How are you doing?”

“Please tell me you two aren’t about to go out right now,” Roman said, ignoring his question for the more important matter at hand.

“Lockwell said that we needed to cover since you guys were coming in,” Talyn said, shifting their eyes away from Roman.

Roman blinked. “Yeah, you two aren’t doing that.”

Thomas and Talyn shared a look. “But we were told-” Thomas started and Roman shook his head.

“Yeah, and we just told Lockwell that I was almost killed,” Roman said. “It’s not safe for you two to go out there, especially not as back-up when us two-” he waved his finger in between himself and Virgil “-aren’t there to help if shit goes wrong. Not saying that you two aren’t good hunters—honestly, if this was any other case, I would be thrilled if you were both joining—but people are being killed, and this vampire is putting up a fight. This isn’t a case that you just throw back-up on, and Lockwell knows that.”

As Roman watched both Thomas’ and Talyn’s eyes flick behind him, he had a feeling his little speech had a new audience member. Turning on his heel, he looked up at Lockwell, standing with the door propped open on his foot.

“A noble sentiment, Roman,” he said. “But this is what must be done. This matter is getting out of hand now. We must take extra precautions by putting more agents out there.”

Perhaps it was his exhaustion, but Roman felt whatever last scraps of patience he had quickly disappearing. “Extra precautions?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. Virgil shot him a glance. “ _ Extra precautions _ are sending Thomas and Talyn out with us in the first place.  _ Extra precautions _ are training more than two of your agents on anything past ‘here, read these articles on how to kill a vampire and then never look at them again for years’.  _ Extra precautions _ are-”

“Roman,” Lockwell cut in. “I understand that you and Virgil were just under an extreme amount of stress. We’re just doing what we believe would be safe for you.”

“What’s safe for me isn’t endangering two more of our agents!” Roman snapped. “You said it yourself, this case isn’t like any other one. To just throw back-up on a case without any prior training is to kill them!” He looked over his shoulder at Thomas and Talyn, both staring wide eyed between him and Lockwell. “In good conscience, as the Head Hunter, I cannot let you go out there.”

“That isn’t your decision to make, Roman,” Lockwell said and Roman turned back to him, glaring.

“Well it’s the right decision to make,” he said. “Either they don’t go or we go back out there with them.”

“No, that is not what’s going to happen. We need to talk, and you need-”

“What I  _ need  _ is for this matter to be taken care of!” Roman exclaimed.

“That’s why I’m sending them out and you’re staying here,” Lockwell snapped, his voice carrying over the room. “Now, if you two would please meet me in my office so we could talk, that would be greatly appreciated.” His tone showed no appreciation.

Roman clenched his fists, pressing his nails into the palms of his hands, before nodding slowly. “Fine,” he said, his voice clipped. “If we lose two of our best agents tonight, I am not the one that’s at fault.”

He then stormed past Lockwell into the corridor, Virgil at his heels. If he was correct, he heard Lockwell, after hesitating for a moment, mutter to Thomas and Talyn, “Stay here,” before following behind Roman and Virgil.

Roman was forcing himself to take deep breaths, trying to remember the breathing exercises Virgil taught him long ago. He believed he had never felt so tired before and he could feel a headache start to press at the front of his skull.

As Lockwell unlocked his office door, Virgil cast Roman a nervous look and Roman rolled his eyes. Lockwell then held the door open for the other two, silently waiting for them to enter. Roman walked in and flopped down onto one of the chairs on the other side of Lockwell’s desk. He rested his head in his hands, taking one last deep breath as he heard Virgil sit down next to him and Lockwell across from them.

Roman looked up and raised an eyebrow at Lockwell.

Lockwell leaned forward on his elbows, lacing his fingers together. “Virgil told me his version of what happened,” he said. “I wish to hear it from you.”

“It’s not much different,” Roman said.

“Roman,” Virgil said quietly from his side.

Roman huffed and started over, “Me and Virgil had just arrived downtown. We parked and started making our way down the main street. Everything was pretty normal at first, nothing major happening, until we came across one alley. We heard someone walking in it and, by the time we shined out flashlights to investigate, the vampire was already upon us.”

Lockwell nodded. “Then what?”

“Before we could even draw our weapons, he grabbed onto me and managed to vanish into smoke—which is what he can do, just so you know—and took me with him,” Roman continued. “He attacked me, I couldn’t fight back because he literally disarmed every function of my body.” At Lockwell’s raised eyebrow, he elaborated, “He’s a tempter. He does this weird… thing with his yellow eyes—that are very snake like, might I add—and it makes you do anything he says. Which probably now explains why his victims showed no struggle, because they couldn’t.”

“And where were your weapons?”

“He disarmed me of those, too.”

Lockwell huffed out a breath and Roman said, “There is no way you can get annoyed at me when I was literally about to have my throat ripped out. That’s just unethical.”

Lockwell nodded, rubbing a hand over his forehead. “You are correct,” he murmured. He then cleared his throat. “And, Roman, despite our… argument, I am glad that you are okay.”

“Me too,” Roman said. “Thanks.”

“It is a good thing that Virgil had his weapons then, no?”

“Oh, a great thing,” Roman said, turning to Virgil, who shifted in his seat, and gave him a small smile.

“But, Roman, just so I can prepare everyone, what did the vampire look like?” Lockwell asked, finding a spare piece of paper and a pen.

“Dark hair, perhaps black or dark brown, I think he was wearing all black, a cloak, too,” Roman listed, watching as Lockwell wrote down everything he said. “He was wearing yellow gloves, too. An odd color choice, but it matches his eyes, which are his most defining feature. Bright yellow and black slits for pupils.”

Lockwell nodded. “And did he say anything to you?”

Roman paused. He hadn’t even told Virgil yet what the vampire said about Logan and “that other one”, who Roman could only assume was the Patton that Logan had mentioned. It would’ve just made Virgil panic more because it appeared that Roman got himself into more danger than he originally thought.

And to say what the vampire said would mean to give up everything he had hidden from the agency. At this point Roman thought that, if anyone ever find out about anything, he’d be facing a worser consequence than just being fired.

“No,” Roman lied and Lockwell nodded, folding up the slip of paper.

“Very well,” Lockwell said. “I will distribute this information to the rest of the team and then inform the investigators. At least the people of this city will know who to look out for.”

Roman and Virgil both nodded and stood when Lockwell stopped them again, “And you two are free to leave. You’ve both had a… rather stressful night. Go home and get some rest.” Lockwell then eyed Roman. “Especially you, Roman. If you feel the need to, take the day off tomorrow. I understand if you need the time.”

Roman had a feeling that, no matter what, he wasn’t going to be able to rest as easily as he hoped, not with his secrets building up, not with the fear that that vampire was not through with him.

\--

“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay over?” Virgil asked as Roman climbed out of the car.

Roman shook his head. “Honestly, I think I need to be alone for a little while,” he admitted. “I’m… I’m so tired, Virg. I just need some time…” He trailed off and Virgil nodded.

“I get it, Ro,” he said. “Make sure to lock your doors, alright?”

“You know vampires can’t get in without being allowed in,” Roman mumbled but still felt a chill race up his spine.

“I know,” Virgil said. “Just do it to ease my anxious heart.”

“Anything for your anxious heart,” Roman said with a smile. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow on what’s going on.”

Virgil nodded. “I’ll let you know when I’m in,” he said and Roman nodded, swinging the door shut.

When Roman was in his apartment, securely locked in, he leaned against the door and groaned, dragging a hand over his face.

“Fuck,” he whispered to himself, pushing off the door. He felt like he needed to sleep for a thousand years but wouldn’t even be able to get ten minutes.

Not long after he settled in, he got Virgil’s text saying he was in and safe—which was probably the most relieving part of Roman’s day—and jumped in his shower. He could still feel the vampire’s rough grip on his jaw, no matter how hot the water ran over him, and only then did he allow the panic he felt to reach its culmination and for him to finally break.

He pressed his hand firmly to his mouth to dull any sobs that wished to escape, hoping to shield himself from the choked noise. Hot tears mixed with the hot water and, as much as Roman hated to admit it, he was scared,  _ terrified _ . He knew that with his job came risks, came life or death situations, but in the eight years that Roman had been with the agency, nothing was ever that close. Roman had never stared death in the eye and only escaped because someone happened to show up at the right time. If the timing had been just a second off, Roman would have been dead hours ago.

It was a very haunting thing to think about.

When Roman finally forced himself out of his shower, he practically had to drag his body through the motions of getting changed. Each movement seemed to use up every last bit of his energy, and all he wanted to do was sleep, but even he knew that he was preparing himself for a restless night of staring up at the ceiling.

That was, however, until Roman heard a knocking on his door. He froze, his heart leaping up into his throat, as he stared out of his bedroom and to the front door. He waited, hoping that it was just something he misheard, but instead flinched when there was knocking again.

Slowly, shaking more than he would have liked, he approached the door, hoping that he wouldn’t step on any creaky floorboards. Whoever was outside his door knew that he was in here, probably saw him walk in— _ oh my God what if that vampire’s back _ — but he still didn’t want to give away exactly where he was in the apartment.

_ Remember, he can’t enter if you don’t let him, _ Roman thought.

_ Yeah, but what if he tempts you into letting him in? _ the asshole part of his brain said.

Though, when Roman looked through the spyhole, his mind faltered and tripped over each thought that came next. With little hesitation, he swung open his door and raised an eyebrow.

“You’re back,” he said. It was rather simple, but he didn’t think he could process anything else.

Logan, standing on the other side of his door, nodded. “I am.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading!!!
> 
> also, for those of you who only read this on ao3, i recently put up a post on some of the lore/headcanons of this fic, so if you go to ethospathoslogan.tumblr.com/vampireau you'll find the link there :)
> 
> ethospathoslogan.tumblr.com


	4. chapter four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something about that, about how long Logan had been roaming the earth with only one person at his side, suddenly hit Roman. For twenty-six years, Roman had watched person after person leave to the point where he became torn between digging his claws into whoever stayed or expecting them to eventually leave. He has learned to take risks and trust whoever he could because he could never imagine a world where he did not have people, maybe even a single person, at his side.
> 
> He wondered if Logan ever felt the same, living throughout the years meeting different people, but only having one person as a constant in his life.

“Please, may I come in?”

Roman stared at the vampire outside his door. Something inside of him, the part that had a never-ending trust in people to always do their best, screamed at him to let Logan in, that the other vampire hadn’t gotten to him and he was _ okay _ . The disappointment he felt could’ve easily been washed away by the fact that he came back, by letting him in; that maybe Roman wasn’t just this dumbass who gave more than he received.

Another part of him, however—most likely the sensible and slightly anxious part of him that he picked up from Virgil— told him that he should be more suspicious than ever (and that he was still a dumbass, but Roman digressed).

“Can’t you already come in?” Roman questioned with a raised eyebrow. “You did live here for a day.”

“You never gave me explicit permission,” Logan said. “I can’t enter unless you say I can.”

“Then you can come in,” Roman said. “On the condition that you tell me what the fuck is going on. Normally I wouldn’t be so abrasive, but I’ve had a bit of a rough day and I would prefer to not be lied to directly to my face.”

Logan flinched and Roman tried not to feel too bad (and failed). “I apologize,” he said, averting his eyes. “Are you… alright?”

“Oh, fine,” Roman shrugged. “Just that my boss can be a bit of an asshole and I had a little run-in with that other vampire from a couple nights ago.”

A horrified expression took over Logan’s face as his red eyes widened behind his glasses. “Then please let me in,” he pleaded, his voice quiet. “I’ll tell you everything I can.”

“You said that last time, too.”

“Yes, because I didn’t-” Logan cut himself off with a sigh and dragged a hand through his hair. “For real, this time, I will tell you what I can. There… there are things that I prefer not to say at the moment, but if the timing is ever appropriate, you will be the first to know.”

Roman nodded. At this point, he was just happy to get maybe half the answers he wanted. “Then come in,” he said with a smile and the hope that he wasn’t making things worse.

“I know you have questions,” Logan said as he walked in and Roman shut the door behind him. “I’d be incredibly surprised if you didn’t. However, I think it would be easier for me to just explain everything.”

Roman nodded, sitting down on his couch. “Whatever you think is best,” he said, leaning against the arm and pulling his knees up to his chest. “I didn’t plan on sleeping tonight, so I think we’ll have enough time.”

A small smile crossed Logan’s face and, after a moment’s hesitation, sat down with Roman on the couch. “Very well then, let’s begin,” he said. He stared out into the darkness of Roman’s apartment—Roman hadn’t even bothered to turn on any lights—as if he himself was deciding where it would be best to start.

“The vampire you unfortunately ran into goes by D.C.,” Logan began. “Whether or not that is his alias, we—myself and Patton, my friend—don’t know. We’ve known him for a very long time, over a century, and our first meetings with him started out civil. Then, however, he started to get a bit more… violent. He became extremely hostile towards humans, believing that they should either listen to him and be turned or perish.”

“What does he have against them?” Roman asked.

“I think that was a secret that Patton always kept from me,” Logan admitted. “He met D.C. before I did, you see, and seemed to know something that I didn’t. I always just thought he was of the type of vampire who believes themself superior than those mortal.”

“Then if he hates humans so much, why is he going after you?” 

Logan huffed out a dry laugh. “Because we get in his way,” he said. “Of course, Patton and I wouldn’t normally engage with humans unless they could be trusted, sticking with small groups here or there across the years. But we didn’t believe that they should be harmed, that there should be this strict divide between human and vampire. We’ve managed to disrupt his plans throughout the century, but he’s always managed to still end up ten steps ahead of us.” Logan shook his head. “Sometimes, I am unable to tell whether we are running after him or running away from him.”

“He’s definitely powerful,” Roman noted, rubbing a hand over his jaw. It felt sore under his touch and he could only imagine the bruise that was forming. 

Logan nodded and frowned. “I assume that you were put under his temptations,” he sighed. “I apologize for that. I know it is not a pleasant experience to feel as if you have no control over your own body.”

Roman swallowed and nodded. “It definitely wasn’t something I look back on fondly,” he said, trying to make his tone more casual and unaffected than he actually felt. “But it was recently discovered that the seven victims of his attacks are also the same seven people who lived in the apartment complex downtown that burned down.” He paused. “Any correlation?”

Logan then sighed and pushed his glasses up, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Of course there’s a correlation,” he muttered, aggravation clear in his voice, though Roman did not think it was directed at him. “Patton and I lived in that same apartment complex. We moved in… two years ago, I believe it was?”

“Two years?” Roman asked, his eyebrows shooting up. “You’ve been in this city for two years, yet we—the Agency, I mean—didn’t hear of you? I- I’m not saying that you were doing anything wrong, but usually there’s at least one suspicious person ready to call in anything they see.”

“Oh, moving to this city was not an easy decision to make,” Logan explained. “Patton and I knew that it would be a risk moving to the city that located your agency. But we thought it would be safe, in an ironic way. At that point, we hadn’t seen D.C. in years, hadn’t heard of him from anyone else we saw. We thought that, if we moved to where vampires would be least welcomed, perhaps he, if he ever decided to return, would avoid this place.” He shook his head. “Obviously, we were wrong.”

“So what happened?”

“The seven humans that were killed weren’t just connected to each other,” Logan said. “They were connected to us. When Patton and I moved in, the seven of them were the only ones living there, and the only other seven who continued to live there. It was a desolate complex and the perfect place to be if you didn’t want to be found. They were all running away from something and perhaps they saw that we were, too. They knew what we were but still accepted us into the small community they formed. They eventually became our… source.”

“Your source?” Roman asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Logan nodded. “It wasn’t until only a couple months ago. I guess they were seeing how weak Patton and I were getting. Not that we were unhealthy, per se, but only feeding off of the animals we could find in the woods gave us a lot less… nourishment than a human. If we weren’t able to properly fight off D.C. years prior, we were in no match then. They, as a group, offered themselves to us, saying that they trusted us to use them. It wasn’t something that we immediately agreed to. Feeding from a human makes them addicted to it, makes them lustful. We didn’t want them making a decision that they would soon regret.”

“Well, what did you do?”

“We eventually acquiesced,” Logan said. “Of course we did nothing to cause physical harm to any of these people. At this point, they were the first human friends we had in over half a century, I think. We just drank enough to nourish us. We always wanted to give them something in return, though, unfortunately, D.C. found us before we could. I don’t know how he did, but he started killing all of them before we could find out. He wanted to show that he was back and that we could no longer run. It seemed like each time one vanished, one more did before any of us could comprehend what was happening.” He worried his bottom lip. “I am… ashamed to admit that Patton and I didn’t make the connection until it was revealed that all seven of them were dead.”

Roman furrowed his eyebrows. “I’m not saying this to judge you, but you didn’t think it was weird how they all suddenly started disappearing?”

Logan shook his head. “Oh, no, we thought it was rather strange,” he said. “But, as I said, these were all people who were running away. At first, we just thought that that was the case. Perhaps, we thought, it was their time to move on to somewhere else to start over once more. Then, however, their deaths were released to the public and we knew. Completely drained with no signs of struggle, it’s how D.C. always did it.”

“Then what about the apartment fire?”

Logan frowned and stayed silent for a few moments. He adjusted his glasses and looked down at his hands, fumbling with his fingers. “That same night, after all seven were killed, before Patton and I could even decide where to go because we knew we couldn’t stay, he came to our apartment and burned it down.”

“Holy shit,” Roman said, his eyes widening. “He- he tried to murder you two.”

Logan nodded. A somber look had taken over his face, his lips turned down and a crease pressed into his forehead. “Patton sent me ahead, saying that he would deal with D.C.,” he said. “I didn’t want to leave him behind. The entire complex was burning down and, as you know, to burn a vampire is to kill them. He might as well have pushed me out of the complex himself. I didn’t change forms, thinking that he was behind me and would have to follow on foot-”

“Wait, change forms?” Roman interrupted.

“I am one of the vampires gifted with the stereotypical ability to transform into a bat,” Logan explained.

Roman hadn’t meant to say, “That explains the poor eyesight,” but it still managed to slip out. He then slapped a hand over his mouth, rushing out behind his fingers, “I’m so sorry, you’re telling me something important and-”

“It’s quite alright, Roman,” Logan said with a laugh. Roman admitted that he was glad to see the bleak expression on Logan’s face break, even if it was just for a second. “You’re not the first person to point that out to me. I, too, find the correlation quite amusing.”

“I’m still sorry for interrupting you,” Roman said, moving his hand and smiling sheepishly. “You were saying that you left the apartment?”

Logan nodded. “I thought Patton was going to be following behind me,” he explained. “Instead, it was D.C. And you obviously saw what happened there. I didn’t know what became of Patton then but-”

“Wait,” Roman interrupted again, suddenly remembering perhaps the most pivotal moment of his run-in with D.C. “Sorry, but there’s something you have to know about what D.C. said to me.” Logan raised an eyebrow. “He thinks I killed you and that this Patton is dead. I- I don’t know what that means or if you know differently but-”

“Yes,” Logan sighed. “That’s what I was getting to. While I didn’t know that D.C. thinks I’m dead—which I guess is good because it keeps him away from us for a while— I, too-” He then cut himself off. Worrying his bottom lip, he stared out into the room for a second before letting his eyes slip shut. “I, too, think Patton is dead. He… he is part of the reason why I disappeared. I got nervous with you asking about him when I didn’t even know where he was, so I left to go and find him on my own. I couldn’t communicate with him, so I thought it would be best to search for him on foot. I couldn’t find him anywhere I looked, though. He was nowhere in the city, and I can only go so far into the forest before it becomes too dangerous for a weakened vampire. It is only reasonable to think that… that he perished in the fire.”

“What do you mean by communicate with him?”

“I can telepathically communicate with people. Typically, for me to speak with someone, I have to reach them and then be let in, whether it be conscious or subconscious. I, however, don’t even have enough of my strength back to reach out to him.”

“Oh,” Roman said quietly. “I… I’m sorry, though, about Patton. I don’t know who he is but… it sounds like he was close to you.”

“Very,” Logan said. “Patton was my creator. He found me when I was near death and, after almost two centuries of being by himself, felt that I was deserving of another chance at life. I originally thought that, perhaps, it was a burden for me to stay with him. I came from a line of medics, and when I caught the plague that was rampaging through our town, my family believed that I, their eldest son, was only set to perish. I did not take… particularly well to my turning. Not that I was angry at him, but it was just very startling. I was supposed to be dead, but instead I was given immortality. Patton had to deal with me and my panicking and confusion. I thought for sure that he would grow tired of me and my antics. Instead he… he became my best friend.”

Roman worried his bottom lip. Shit, he only knew Virgil for seven years and he already couldn’t imagine life without him, let alone if he had known him for over a century. “He sounded like he was a great guy,” he said softly.

Logan nodded. “He was,” he sighed. “Not being able to find him is what led me back here.” He then let out a humorless laugh, shaking his head. “It’s quite pathetic, is it not? I’ve been alive for almost two centuries and now I only have one person left to turn to.”

“It’s not pathetic,” Roman said. His voice barely filled the room, his words only meant for the one next to him. “I’ve told you that you’re welcome here. I trust you, even if everything else says that I shouldn’t.”

Logan nodded. “I find myself in a similar situation,” he said. “If Patton was the first reason why I disappeared, then you—or, rather, your trust—was the second. I shouldn’t trust you. Just as everything points for you to not trust me, the same can be said for myself. I’ve only known you for a short time and your job alone is worrying, considering that your agency is being sent after vampires.”

Logan sighed and ran a hand through his hair before continuing, “Still though, I found myself trusting you. After what you did for me and how open you were… how could I not? You showed openness that I still question if I really deserved. Even after what I did, unfairly lying to you and vanishing after the trust you showed me, you let me back in. When I realized that there was no use looking for Patton anymore, I considered running away and starting new somewhere else. Still… something brought me back here. I’ll be honest, how much I trust you is quite alarming, Roman. But… I am aware now that the last humans associated with me did not receive a pleasant ending. So, because of that, I understand if, for your own safety, you would like me to leave once again.”

Roman shook his head. “If I was concerned for my safety, I never would’ve taken you from that alley,” he said. “You can stay here as long as you wish. I can keep you safe from the agency, from D.C., from anything.”

“But D.C. is after you,” Logan said. “Associating with me can just put you in more danger-”

“I’ve always been in danger,” Roman said. “From the moment I joined the agency, I knew that I was putting myself into a life of constant danger.” He shrugged. “This isn’t any different.”

Logan smiled at him. It was small, only the corners of Logan’s mouth turning up, but, even in the darkness, Roman could still see it. “Very well, then,” he said. “Thank you, Roman.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” Roman said. “I’m doing this because I want to.”

“Perhaps,” Logan nodded. “It still might be more kindness than I deserve, though, so I’ll still thank you.”

“I’ll just learn to deal with it, then,” Roman said, smiling. “And so you’re… two hundred years old?”

Logan shook his head. “One-hundred-and-seventy-five.”

“Shit,” Roman said, laughing slightly. “What’s that in human years?”

Logan chuckled. “Twenty-six.”

“We’re the same age, in a way,” Roman noted. “Like, if we forget the fact that you were born in, like, the nineteenth century.”

Something about that, about how long Logan had been roaming the earth with only one person at his side, suddenly hit Roman. For twenty-six years, Roman had watched person after person leave to the point where he became torn between digging his claws into whoever stayed or expecting them to eventually leave. He has learned to take risks and trust whoever he could because he could never imagine a world where he did not have people, maybe even a single person, at his side.

He wondered if Logan ever felt the same, living throughout the years meeting different people, but only having one person as a constant in his life.

“I understand what you mean,” Roman suddenly said, drawing Logan’s attention away from the window, still covered in a sheet with scraps of moonlight managing to peek out. “When you said how, after all this time, you only have one person left to turn to.”

“You do?” Logan asked.

Roman nodded and laughed, its sound clipped and more of a scoff than a laugh. “Yeah, not to sound completely tragic here, but Virgil—you remember Virgil, right? Tall, edgy, probably cursing—well, he’s basically my only friend,” he said. “Or at least the only friend that I think will remain constant. Which I feel bad about saying, you know? Like, I have some people at work who I’m very friendly with and probably do consider a friend in some way but… it doesn’t feel real. It’s all merely circumstantial, and we don’t talk outside of work. So it’s just me and Virgil, and it’s only been me and Virgil for seven years.”

“And before that?” Logan questioned and Roman sighed, staring up at the ceiling. “Of course you don’t have to tell-”

“That’s not it,” Roman said, looking back to the vampire. “I just feel like this makes me seem so… pitiful? Whiny? Especially after everything you just told me.”

“Nonsense,” Logan said with a shake of his head. “You are free to tell me whatever you wish to. I will not judge you for any of it. Not when we seem to share similar stories.”

Roman managed a small smile. “Thanks,” he said. “It’s just… you know how it is, an unhappy couple that doesn’t want a child—hell, doesn’t even want each other— has a kid, the mom leaves when the kid’s a baby because she has better things to do, the dad cycles through nannies because he can’t stop sleeping with them and then firing them. The kid then grows up to go through school only being artificially liked because his dad has money that will never be his own because the dad never wanted a kid, so why give the kid an inheritance? The kid then graduates high school and goes to the main monster hunting agency instead of business school, disappoints his dad for the last time, and ends up in a shitty apartment with one friend and a vampire.” He shrugged. “Oldest story in the book.”

“I’ve read many books and I don’t think that’s ever been the story,” Logan said. “You shouldn’t be so dismissive.”

“Hey, deflecting away from my childhood issues, which caused my abandonment issues, is part of my charm,” Roman said, his casual tone proving his point. “I’m just how guys like ‘em- a large ego and sparkling, mostly fake confidence to compensate for my likelihood of insecurity-fueled breakdowns.”

“Well I think you’re fine,” Logan said.

“You’ve only known me for, like, three days.”

“And I feel like that is enough for me to know that you’re too critical of yourself,” Logan continued. “These cognitive distortions that you’ve convinced yourself of are merely overshadowing the good you have in you.”

“I appreciate that, but you seem to be one of the few that can see any of that in me,” Roman said, leaning into the couch cushions as if they could swallow him whole.

“I’m assuming the other one is your friend Virgil,” Logan said and, after a hesitation, Roman nodded. “I think that everyone else just isn’t looking hard enough.”

Roman was glad for the darkness of his room; Logan wouldn’t have to see how his cheeks flushed.

“You know, when I took you in a couple days ago, I didn’t expect you to see through every wall that I’ve been building up for years,” Roman said.

“I just understand your loneliness,” Logan said. “Patton was always the one that the humans preferred. He was the comforting one, the one who didn’t always look so intimidating. Even with him at my side throughout the years, I felt the loneliness creep into me, the fear that one day he would find a better clan and leave with them, and I’d be condemned to centuries of roaming the earth by myself. But he never did.” He paused, looking over Roman. Roman felt as if his soul was being opened up before him and he could only watch as everything about him—his hopes, his fears, the things he wouldn’t say to others, the things he wouldn’t admit to himself—spilled out in a tangled mess. “Though, in my experience, I’ve found that it’s the lonely who find the best companionships, for, while we know what the horrors of isolation are like, we know what it’s like for someone to bring us out of them.”

“I think you’re right,” Roman said, his voice so quiet that he wasn’t even sure if it reached Logan.

Still, though, he smiled at Roman.

The world was not always kind to its lonely and abandoned, and maybe it never would be, but the lonely and the abandoned still persevere to find each other and the people who will stay—not out of obligation or manipulation, but true want—and then their own world could begin to form.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading!!! this particular chapter definitely took a different format than im used to writing, considering it was like 90% dialogue, omg
> 
> i at least think it was meaningful dialogue tho so!!! (i mean i hope it was omfg)
> 
> ethospathoslogan.tumblr.com


	5. chapter five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A part of Roman truly didn’t want to go in; he had barely slept and when he did it was uncomfortable at best. However, though, something nagged at him in the back of his mind that, now that he knew who this vampire was and what his motives were, Roman couldn’t take a day off. D.C. was out there in the city, doing hell knows what, and Roman couldn’t just let that happen and not be there to stop it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if i titled my chapters, this one would be titled “virgil put your claws away”
> 
> also writing this fic made me start watching “the vampire diaries” and,,, oh boy it is an Adventure
> 
> (warnings: cursing)

Roman hadn’t even realized he’d fallen asleep until he shifted positions and a dull ache travelled down his neck.

“Ow, shit,” he mumbled as he lazily rubbed the back of his neck, barely coherent. He arched his back against the arm of the couch, yawning as his bones cracked into place.

“You know, it is essential to sleep comfortably in a position that will not cause you pain.”

At that, Roman’s eyes flew open to see Logan sitting cross legged at the other end of the couch. He held a book in one hand and leaned on the other; his glasses had slipped down his nose and he still didn’t look over at Roman as he flipped a page. Roman then noticed that, sometime during the night, a blanket had been thrown over him, which was good considering that—with his AC broken and always blasting and no sunlight being able to come in through the windows—his apartment was rather cold.

Roman ignored the warm feeling in his chest because Logan throwing a blanket over him meant nothing, perhaps just that he was a decent person, and said, “So, the classic cliche of vampires hovering over humans as they sleep is true, huh?”

Logan scoffed and rolled his eyes, though Roman didn’t miss how the corner of his mouth turned upwards. He looked over at Roman. “Would you rather I reside in your bedroom while you sleep here?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. “Personally, I don’t want to. Considering the state of your apartment—books everywhere, six different bags in six different places, papers on the floor, and  _ would you please put away the dishes in your drainboard? _ -”

“Logan, it is far too early for you to be criticizing me,” Roman groaned, leaning back on the arm of the couch. He blinked blearily at the ceiling as he attempted to force himself to wake up. “And to think that we were having a heart-to-heart last night.

“I digress,” Logan continued. “I just thought it better for me to remain out here—and, no, I was not hovering!—than perhaps insert myself somewhere that I am not wanted in your apartment.”

“Well, I’ve told you already,” Roman said. “You can stay here as long as you wish, and that means that you can go wherever you want. I have no skeletons in my closet.” He then grinned and Logan glared at him, already knowing where the conversation was going next, “Maybe a vampire, though, if that’s where you truly want to stay. Don’t bats like the dark, too? I feel like that would be the best-”

“I’ve decided,” Logan interrupted, snapping his book shut. “That I’m actually going to turn myself in to your agency. I think it would be better than staying here with you and your…”

“My sparkling personality?” Roman filled in. “Witty jokes?”

“Annoyances,” Logan said, but he was smiling, so Roman smiled back.

“Logan, you wound me,” Roman joked, looking around for his phone. He finally found it on the floor, half under the couch. Picking it up, he saw that he had forty minutes until he had to be at work, if he wished to go, and that Virgil texted him ten minutes ago asking if he was going in and, if so, if he needed a ride.

A part of Roman truly didn’t want to go in; he had barely slept and when he did it was uncomfortable at best. However, though, something nagged at him in the back of his mind that, now that he knew who this vampire was and what his motives were, Roman couldn’t take a day off. D.C. was out there in the city, doing hell knows what, and Roman couldn’t just let that happen and not be there to stop it.

Roman replied to Virgil saying that he would be going in and he’d meet Virgil outside his apartment soon.

Sitting up, he stretched up towards the ceiling one final time before standing up. “I’m gonna be going to work soon,” he told Logan, walking over to his kitchen. “Do you have any riveting plans for the day?”

“I’m going to try to contact Patton again,” Logan said and Roman, pouring a cup of coffee, frowned.

“I thought you said-”

“I know,” Logan cut in, sighing. “I… I have every reason to believe that Patton perished with our apartment. But, as illogical as this sounds, I don’t want to believe it. There’s no visual proof. I don’t want to leave him behind if there’s a chance that he’s alive.”

Roman nodded. “Well, you don’t have to stay stuck here,” he said. “I know it’s probably easier to do you communication… thing but we can try to work out a way to get you out there and have it not look suspicious.”

“That’s not going to be simple,” Logan said.

“Well how did you and Patton do it?” Roman asked. “Before the humans, I mean. I assume that you guys had to leave your apartment at some point.”

“Well, that was a different time. The people of this city weren’t suspicious of vampires. Practically the entire city didn’t know that we were here,” Logan explained. “Patton could alter his appearance and, therefore, go out in the daylight and not draw attention. I would go out at night and transform so I could fly swiftly and without commotion to the forest.”

“Now, though, every bat is suspicious, every person walking around at night is suspicious,” Roman finished for Logan, huffing out a breath. “Hell, even anyone walking around in the daylight is seen as suspicious now. Some of the calls we get about ‘possible vampire sightings’ just sound as if someone is trying to get their neighbor arrested for being out past eight o’clock.”

Logan let out a laugh. “Then I guess I am confined to here.”

Roman shrugged. “We’ll figure something out,” he said. “Not even just so that you can look for your friend again, but I think anyone would go batshit—yes, pun intended, don’t glare at me like that with those slightly creepy red eyes of yours—would  _ lose it _ if they had to stay here twenty-four seven.”

“I think I’ll be able to manage.”

“I’m just trying to make it seem like you’re not under some weird type of house arrest but fine, suit yourself.”

When Virgil arrived at Roman’s apartment, he grabbed his work bag and slung it over his shoulder. “I’ll be back later,” he said to Logan. “As always, make yourself at home. Try not to miss me too much.” He winked and Logan rolled his eyes.

“That won’t be too difficult,” Logan said as Roman walked out of the apartment. Stepping outside into the summer morning, he was glad to be met with warmth and Virgil parked and waiting for him at the curb.

“Not gonna lie,” Virgil said as Roman got into the car and tossed his bag on the floor. “I cannot think of one reason why you’re coming in today. You were literally given permission to stay home.”

Roman shrugged. “I don’t think I would’ve been able to stay in my apartment all day long without getting antsy,” he said. “Besides, what will our city do without my protection?” He smirked as Virgil scoffed.

“Such a martyr,” Virgil said, pulling away from the curb. “Dude, did you even get any sleep? I say this as your best friend, but you look half dead.”

“I slept for a little bit.” As if on cue, Roman stifled a yawn with his hand. “Not well, though.”

“Another reason for you to stay home.”

“It’s fine,” Roman dismissed, waving his hand. “Besides, I know too much now to just be able to calmly sit and do nothing.”

Virgil slid him a wary side-eye. “What do you mean by ‘you know too much’?”

At that moment, a metaphorical light bulb went off in Roman’s head. “Oh! I almost forgot to tell you,” he said. “Logan came back last night and told me everything.”

Virgil, once again, slammed harshly on the breaks.

Roman after, once again, being thrown forward in his seatbelt, turned to Virgil with a glare. “You really need to stop doing that.”

“You really need to stop telling me bullshit while I’m driving!” Virgil snapped. “You’re telling me that he came back? You’re just _ now _ telling me?”

“Well, yeah,” Roman said, shrugging. “We were talking last night. He told me everything that’s going on. At least I think it’s everything.”

A car behind them honked.

“Oh, it better be fucking everything,” Virgil muttered, turning down a side street. He started to drive back in the direction of Roman’s apartment.

“Where are we going?” 

“Back to your apartment, obviously,” Virgil said, his tone still carrying his aggravation. “I have some things I need to say to this guy.”

“We’re gonna be late if we-” Roman started only to be interrupted.

“I think they’ll manage,” Virgil said, his words clipped enough to silence Roman. “Unbelievable. He disappeared, you get attacked, and now he’s suddenly back here? I’m calling bullshit, I’m calling  _ so much _ bullshit-”

“He said-”

“I won’t believe it until I hear it for myself,” Virgil interrupted again. “You’re the trusting one here, not me.”

Virgil practically flew to the curb and was out of the driver’s seat before even shutting the car off. Roman huffed out a sigh as his friend ripped up pavement walking into the apartment complex; he leaned over to shut the car off, clenching the keys in his hand as he followed Virgil up the staircase.

Virgil, once the two reached Roman’s door, turned on his heel to stare Roman down, arms crossed, as Roman unlocked his door. He walked into his apartment, giving Logan—who was still seated on the couch—the most apologetic look he could muster as Virgil stormed in after him.

“Oh, Roman, I didn’t expect you to be back so soon,” Logan noted. “And Virgil, it’s nice to see you again-”

“What is your deal?” Virgil interrupted, shocking Roman—and Logan, too, with the look on his face—with the fire in his words. Roman raised his eyebrows at Virgil while Logan snapped his mouth shut. 

“Virgil,” Roman said, forcing himself to find his voice.

“No, Roman, let me speak,” Virgil continued, keeping his eyes on Logan. “You- you disappeared  _ yesterday _ , after everything Roman already risked to make sure you didn’t die. And then-  _ then _ you disappear on us, after both of us were now already involved, and made us think ‘oh shit, did we just release a killer vampire into the city?’ because we have no clue who you are! Then, Roman’s attacked by that fuck who attacked you—let me just add that Roman almost fucking  _ died _ —and then, coincidentally, you’re back when that other one disappears again? Listen, I don’t know what fucking game you’re playing or what you know, but if you think you can just sit there and use my friend as a buffer between you and whatever’s after you, then you have another thing coming because-”

“Virgil, put your claws away,” Roman snapped, silencing his friend, who was still glaring at a gaping Logan. “I appreciate you defending me and all, but this isn’t the vampire that I need a bodyguard from.”

“It’s quite alright, Roman,” Logan said, much calmer than Roman thought he would be. “I cannot blame your friend for thinking that I have… ulterior motives.”

Virgil tensed his jaw, crossing his arms over his chest. “Then, what is it? If Roman’s not just your barrier between whatever wants to kill you, why are you here?”

“I assure you, Virgil,” Logan continued. “I can tell you everything that I told Roman last night.” He flicked his eyes to Roman. “I’m sure that Roman would not be opposed to me telling you after you two leave work.”

“Why not now?” Virgil asked, sliding his eyes over to Roman.

“Because while he’s here, there’s another vampire out there that we actually have to worry about,” Roman pointed out.

And, also, possibly a third vampire, but Roman didn’t want to worry Virgil with the concept of a _ third _ vampire if there was a chance he was already dead.

Virgil sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Okay, fine, yeah,” he conceded. “I’ll be back later and I expect to hear everything.” He paused as his hand slid down to scratch the back of his neck. He warily eyed Logan. “And… I’m sorry for yelling at you. If Roman thinks you’re cool… then I guess you are.”

A small smile quirked up Logan’s lips. “There’s no need for an apology since there was no offense taken,” he said. “And I apologize for our less than pleasurable first meeting. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s fine.” Virgil shrugged. “I’ve been through worse.” He then turned to Roman, shoving his hands deep in his pockets. “Can we go now?”

“You’re the one who brought us here,” Roman pointed out and watched as Virgil walked out of the apartment.

Logan then looked to him with a smirk. “Will you actually be back later or should I expect you to return in another five minutes?”

“If Virgil has more things he wants to yell about, yeah, maybe,” Roman laughed, giving Logan a goodbye wave before walking out of his apartment, closing the door behind him.

When he was back in the car with Virgil, Virgil turned to look at him. “Listen, Ro, please just tell me something that will make me feel better.”

“The vampire that attacked me thinks Logan is dead.”

Virgil stared forward out the windshield, nodding, contemplating. “Yeah, that doesn’t make me feel any better,” he said and began to drive.

\--

Within a week from then, Roman and Logan found out ways to make Roman’s apartment and Logan staying with him seem much less suspicious.

_ Step one: _ take the sheets off the windows because Logan wasn’t practically dying anymore. Also, taped up windows looked  _ very _ suspicious.

_ Step two: _ discover that sunglasses work surprisingly well over red eyes for the daylight and also soothed headaches that one afflicted with vampirism would normally suffer in the sun.

( _ Cons of step two: _ Logan was also afflicted with poor eyesight, so going out in the daylight was seldom a feat performed.)

_ Step three:  _ figure out that the way to properly make sure Logan didn’t starve while staying with Roman while also allowing Roman to continue doing his job was for Roman and Virgil to take Logan out with them to the forest on their nightly hunts. The three decided that being together whenever Logan went out in public was the best choice, as it allowed for Roman and Virgil to cover for him from any paranoid civilians or killer vampires.

The sun was almost completely set when Logan came out of Roman’s apartment complex and climbed into the back of the company car (which, luckily, did not have cameras, or else Roman would have been fucked).

“Hey Dracula,” Virgil said, grinning at Logan in the rearview mirror (who rolled his eyes in return). “So this is a car. I know that you, being old, probably have a tough time with modern technology, but-”

“Virgil, I was there when cars were first invented,” Logan deadpanned, leaning forward on the console. “I know what cars are and how they function.”

“Well, I don’t see you driving any cars, so I don’t care,” Virgil quipped back as Roman snorted. 

Logan turned to Roman. “To change the subject away from Virgil being a pain in the neck-”

“Did you just make a pun?” Roman asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Logan paused for a minute, as if he was thinking over his own words, before huffing out a breath. “Not intentionally.”

Roman smirked at Logan, who glared back at him. “Anyways,” Roman said with a laugh. “What were you gonna say?”

“I was going to say,” Logan continued. “That I’ve been trying to reach Patton again.”

“And?”

Logan frowned. “I still cannot get to him,” he said. “It’s as if something is blocking me from him… I cannot even begin to pinpoint the general area where he would be.”

“Not to be a downer,” Virgil said, glancing at the two of them out of the corner of his eye. “And I truly mean that, but when do you know to… stop looking?”

“It depends on how you look at it,” Logan said, resting his head on his hands. The dejected look on his face pained Roman, if he was being honest. “You could say that I should’ve stopped looking when I couldn’t reach Patton the first time. You could also say that I shouldn’t stop looking until I find true evidence to point one way or another.”

“And you’re hoping for the latter,” Roman filled in.

Logan sighed and nodded, brushing his hair back. “At this point, I just want to know,” he said. “I… I will eventually grow to accept the outcome, if it’s negative. I just don’t want to spend the rest of my time trying to put together vague assumptions to reach a conclusion that I don’t entirely believe in.”

Roman nodded. “Well, I hope everything works out the way you want it to,” he said, giving Logan a smile.

“Yes,” Logan said, smiling in return. “I hope so, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!!! ngl i'm really excited to write the rest of this fic bc Stuff Is Gonna Happen!!! if i planned everything out correctly, there should be eleven chapters in total :)
> 
> ethospathoslogan.tumblr.com


	6. chapter six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “My safety doesn’t matter, Logan! It hasn’t for years!” 
> 
> Roman suddenly felt like he and Virgil were witnessing a conversation they were never meant to hear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> why do i never post chapters at a normal time
> 
> warnings: slight self-deprecating thoughts

“I just don’t understand,” Lockwell muttered, his back turned to Roman and Virgil as he studied the board in front of him. Throughout the case, everyone involved had been pinning up papers that could be leads to anything. It was meant to help make things clearer for everyone, though now it just seemed to confuse anyone who looked at it.

“What don’t you understand?” Roman asked, leaning back in his chair.

“Why these attacks?” Lockwell smoothed one of the papers out that had begun to curl from the heat and sighed, shaking his head. “Why attack and kill seven people in one week and then disappear, only to come after one of our agents and disappear again?” He looked over his shoulder at his two agents. “Something here isn’t connecting.”

“But all the attacks—at least the first seven people—were all connected,” Virgil pointed out.

“You’re right,” Lockwell murmured, turning back to the board. “But why those people? Yes, perhaps it was because they had no one in any nearby areas to look for them, but wouldn’t this thing be able to realize that killing people all from one area would only draw attention to it?” He shook his head again. “Something just doesn’t make sense…”

“You think there’s a reason this vampire went after these people?” Roman asked. He already knew the answers, but due to certain _keeping-a-vampire-in-his-own-apartment_ circumstances, he had to pretend that he was just as lost as Lockwell.

“Perhaps,” Lockwell said. “But then where do you come in? Was this thing going after you just some random attack? But why would it go after you only—of course, not that _Virgil_ should’ve been the one attacked—but why take you and disappear?” He straightened one of the papers on the board. “We all thought this thing was just some mindless killer with a knack for those who don’t have anyone to miss them. Now, however…”

“You think that he thought all of this out,” Roman finished for him.

“Either that,” Lockwell said. “Or there’s another one.”

Roman and Virgil shared a look that, luckily, Lockwell did not see.

“Why do you think that?” Virgil asked. “All the people were killed the same way.”

“Draining a person of their blood is not something unique to a vampire,” Lockwell said. “There could be more than we think and we’re just throwing all random pieces of evidence together.” He sighed and finally turned to face the agents.

“I’m pretty sure it’s the same vampire,” Roman said. “Who knows if there’s more-” He did. He knew. “-But all of this one’s victims showed no struggle. He tried to tempt me into letting him… do what he wanted. Therefore, no struggle. So I think we can be pretty sure of it being the same vampire.”

“But why disappear?” Lockwell asked. “It’s been—what?—two weeks already since your attack? Why do all of this only to disappear? In every other case we’ve dealt with, attacks are random, continuous. They don’t just suddenly stop.”

“Well, that’s our job to figure out, isn’t it?” Roman questioned. “We’ve already all established that this case isn’t just some regular one. As we’ve all figured out, these attacks aren’t random. I don’t think those seven victims being from the same apartment complex was just some coincidence. This vampire had a plan. Maybe he still does.”

Lockwell raised an eyebrow. “You think it’s plotting something?”

Roman nodded. He didn’t miss the look Virgil sent him out of the corner of his eye. Even between him, Virgil, and Logan, they hadn’t discussed yet the idea that D.C. might be planning something further. If everything Logan told Roman about D.C. was true, he doubted D.C. would give up a century-long hunt because a human got in the way. “He seems like he might be,” he said. “It’s not like he’s following some hive mind. Whatever this vampire’s doing, none of it is random.”

Lockwell sighed and nodded. “I think you’re right, Prince,” he said. “It seems like you two are the only people who can begin to make sense of all of this.”

Roman had never been so glad that Virgil didn’t shift in his seat. “Well, what can we say,” he said with a grin. “That’s why we’re the best.”

If Roman was being honest, he was a bit sickened by how easily the lie slipped off his tongue, even if it was to protect Logan.

“Yes, perhaps,” Lockwell said with a small smile. “Well, you two go and take a break. Lord knows that your late nights aren’t done.”

Roman and Virgil nodded, leaving the room and Lockwell, who turned back to face the papers on the board.

“Roman,” Virgil hissed once the door closed behind them and they entered the empty hall.

“Chill, it’s fine,” Roman assured, pushing his hair back. “He’s not suspicious. If anything, we just look… really good.”

“But what happens when our ‘really good’ starts to look ‘really suspicious’?” Virgil asked, panic rising in his voice as he tried to force himself to stay quiet. “When does it start to look like we’re learning things that no one else would know unless-”

“We’re fine, Virgil,” Roman half-lied, his voice stern. He stopped his walk suddenly and grabbed Virgil, pulling him into an empty side room. He shut the door behind them and locked it. “We’ve got everything under control, no?”

“No, I don’t know,” Virgil admitted and Roman frowned. “You say that we’re fine, that things are under control, but neither of us know that. That’s something you can’t lie about.”

Roman narrowed his eyes. “Is it really lying if we’re still getting the results we need? We’re getting to where we need to be. Of course, it’s a bit slow, but we now know more about… _him_ than we did a couple weeks ago. We’re just… doing a little extra maneuvering in the process.”

Virgil deadpanned at him. “Yes, Roman, that is very much still lying.”

Roman glared. “Well, no one ever said that you had to get involved.”

“Right, sure, because you calling me the moment this all happened wasn’t asking me to help fix this shit,” Virgil bit. “Look, either way, I’m helping because you’re my friend and doing this alone might get you killed. But don’t act as if this is something that I can just walk away from now. I’m just as involved in this as you are and, honestly? This trainwreck seems so close to going off the rails. So forgive me if I’m a bit anxious over the fact that we have a bigger problem on our hands than you want to acknowledge.”

Roman scoffed and Virgil arched an eyebrow. “Don’t even try to act as if you’re not treating this more casually than you should,” Virgil continued. “I think you out of any of us know that this bullshit is a big deal, I mean… Ro, you were attacked. You know damn well that everything you said in that room—that something bigger might be getting plotted right now—is true.”

“Well, maybe it’s not,” Roman said. “He doesn’t know that Logan’s alive.”

“But he knows that you are,” Virgil said and Roman frowned and averted his eyes. “See? That’s what I mean. Every time your attack has been brought up, you just brush it off as if it wasn’t serious. But, Ro, you can be scared, alright? You can understand that something major is happening right now and that we’re at the heart of it now, whether we want to be or not.” Virgil sighed and shrugged. “Sorry if I’m a bit harsh, but it’s because I know that you know all of this. You’re just… being you and not admitting it.”

Roman sighed and shook his head. “I hate how well you know me.”

Virgil gave a small smile. “Someone’s got to, right?”

Roman crossed his arms. “I’ll say what you want me to say, then,” he said, leaning on the door. “Honestly, Virg? I’m fucking terrified. I don’t regret what I did—helping Logan and all—but even I can’t ignore how much shit we’re in right now. And, yeah, D.C. doesn’t know that Logan’s alive, but he knows I’m alive. And he- he wanted me dead because I knew too much then.” He sighed and leaned his head back. “Well, now I know more. So, yeah, between knowing Logan, my job being on the line, and a murderous vampire knowing that I know who he is, I’m a bit fucked.”

“Well, you could always stay with me for a little while,” Virgil offered. “My place might be safer, y’know, with its cameras and, like, people.”

Roman shook his head. “I appreciate the gesture,” he said. “But me moving means that Logan also has to move. I think it’s better if we just stay put.”

“Fair enough,” Virgil said. “So, are we ready to join the public yet and not have sketchy conversations in empty conference rooms?”

Roman shrugged. “Perhaps,” he said. He opened his mouth to speak again only to close it. He sighed and averted his eyes one last time, scratching the back of his neck. “I’m sorry for dragging you into all of this.”

“Stop apologizing,” Virgil said. “I already told you. I’m here because I’m your friend and I don’t think this is something you could’ve handled alone. I don’t need you housing one vampire on your own while risking the possibility of being abducted by another one.” He shrugged. “Besides, since this is honesty hour, I might as well say that Logan’s a cool dude, so I don’t mind. You could’ve found the asshole-but-not-killer vampire, which would’ve been annoying.”

Roman laughed and nodded. “Okay, true,” he said, opening up the door.

He followed Virgil out and into the lobby of the agency. Across the room, at the couches situated in the corner, Thomas, Joan, and Talyn sat, practically smushed together on the loveseat. Upon catching Roman’s eye, Thomas beamed at him and waved both him and Virgil over.

“I see Lockwell finally let you two go,” Talyn noted.

Virgil scoffed and slid into one of the spare chairs while Roman took a seat on the arm of the loveseat. “Yeah, you can only stare at a wall of papers and do nothing for so long,” Virgil said, slouching back in his chair.

“Still no new leads?” Thomas asked.

“Some people in the lab were talking about how they think there’s another vampire out there,” Joan said. “Is that true?”

Roman shrugged. “I doubt it,” he said. “Everything’s too uniform to be more than one. More likely, this vampire is just planning things out very carefully.”

“So you guys don’t think that this is over?” Talyn asked, looking up at Roman from where they sat next to him.

Roman shook his head. “Unfortunately no,” he said. “And even if this vampire did disappear forever, we can’t ignore how all the victims are connected and-”

Suddenly, Roman was cut off by his phone vibrating in his pocket. Slipping it out of his pocket, he expected to see a spam number calling him or a solicitor and was, instead, met with his apartment phone calling him.

A fun bit of vampire trivia that Roman learned from Logan was that, yes, vampires did use modern technology. The one problem with having modern technology—specifically, a cell phone—however, was that cell phones could easily be incinerated into ashes by a killer vampire if said killer vampire wished to, say, murder another vampire. So, as a compromise, Roman said that Logan could call his own cell during emergencies.

Roman now, though, wasn’t sure if he wanted to know what the emergency was.

“Why is there a call coming in from your apartment?” Talyn asked, their voice not accusatory but merely curious. Still, though, Roman pulled the phone closer to him.

“Oh, Roman, got a date at your house?” Joan asked with a smirk and Thomas, next to them, snorted.

“You know me, Joan,” Roman said, standing. He shot them a smirk and a wink to mask his insides turning. “I don’t kiss and tell.”

Roman didn’t wait for a quip back and, instead, turned on his heel and walked out of the agency. He quickly answered his phone before the answering machine could pick up, leaning against the wall. He forced himself to remain as nonchalant as possible; there were cameras above him, outside the door. They had no sound but he knew that he couldn’t pace and flail as if his head was just taken off.

“Hey,” he said into the receiver. “What’s wrong?”

“I found him,” Logan rushed out on the other end. “I got to Patton. He’s alive.”

Roman’s mind blanked. Three vampires.

“H-How’d you find him?” Roman finally managed out, forcing himself to look down at his shoes and not around as if he’d be able to find Patton, let alone recognize him.

“I don’t know,” Logan said. “I was just trying to see if I could reach him one final time. It’s been almost three weeks, I knew that I couldn’t keep hoping. But then… I got through to him. He’s weak but… he’s alive.”

“Were you able to talk to him?”

“No,” Logan continued. “He escaped the fire, but that doesn’t mean that he wasn’t injured. Even now, he’s still recovering. Telepathically communicating requires a lot more energy and strength than regular communicating and he doesn’t have much of either. He’s…” Logan sighed. “I’m relieved that he’s alive. We just need to find him.”

“We will, okay?” Roman assured, looking up at the sky. “He’s hopefully somewhere nearby. We’ll get to him before anyone else does, okay?”

“I believe you,” Logan said. “Thank you, Roman.”

Roman nodded even though Logan couldn’t see it. “You don’t have to thank me,” he said. “But stay in the apartment, okay? I won’t be back until later tonight, but you have to stay there.”

There was hesitation on Logan’s side. “Is it safe to assume that things are tense over there?”

Roman huffed out a laugh. “That’s an understatement.”

“Well, I wish you luck,” Logan said. “I’m sure everything you’re doing is sufficient.”

Roman smiled. “Thanks, Logan.”

When the two bid each other goodbye, Roman slipped his phone back into his pocket and walked inside.

“Hey, Roman, Virgil here isn’t telling us about the poor guy you’re leaving all alone in your apartment,” Joan said as Roman walked back up to them.

“That’s because Virgil is an amazing friend who knows how to keep my secrets,” Roman said, sitting on the arm of Virgil’s chair.

Roman was glad Patton was alive. Not particularly because he had anything for him, but because he couldn’t imagine what Logan was going through while believing that his closest friend over the course of centuries was dead.

Though, while Roman hated to admit it, having three vampires all in the same area, all connected, sent constant chills up Roman’s spine.

\--

Roman soon found out that realizing that Patton was alive was just as stressful as thinking he was dead. Thinking Patton was dead meant that Logan had officially lost his clan and that D.C. was probably very keen on following through with his plan to kill Logan as well. Knowing Patton was alive meant that D.C. didn’t know that at the time of his attack on Roman and that Patton was lost somewhere in the city.

If D.C. hadn’t already found him, which was a distressing thought in itself.

Most of all though, Roman found that his biggest stressor was Logan’s stress. Whatever Roman was feeling, Logan was feeling ten-times more, which took its form in Logan locking himself away for hours during the day trying to reach Patton again, only occasionally getting through with a weak connection.

That, of course, meant two things: either Patton was in a state where he wasn’t getting any better or Logan was driving himself to exhaustion.

Most likely both.

Which, of course, was very distressing.

\--

Darkness surrounded Roman’s apartment, the moon peering down into the living room, and Logan had not left Roman’s room at all that day. Logan had been taking residency in there  when Roman himself didn’t need to be in the room, hoping that the quiet would allow him to concentrate more on his telepathy and fall into a deep, serene focus when he needed to meditate in order to regain his energy. However, from the fact that Logan hadn’t left the room yet and how Roman could occasionally hear a huff of frustration when the apartment was quiet enough, he assumed neither process was going well.

Roman, currently standing outside his own bedroom door, had only just risen his fist to knock when the door swung open. Logan, standing on the other side, looked as if he hadn’t gotten proper rest in weeks. His eyes had begun to take a more sunken-in look while his hair, besides looking as if Logan had run his hands through it a thousand times, looked dry, straw-like.

“Oh, Roman, hello,” Logan said, unable to fully mask the tiredness of his words. “Are you going to bed? I can move to the living room if-”

“No, no, you’re fine,” Roman assured with a small smile, doing another look over of Logan’s appearance. “Virgil’s still here. I just wanted to see how you were doing. You’ve been in here for a while now.”

“Yes, I do apologize for being quite reclusive today,” Logan said, dragging a hand through his hair for the thousandth-and-one time. “I am just trying to get into contact with Patton again.”

“Yeah, I get that,” Roman said. “But how about you take a break that’s more than, like, a fifteen minute meditation period? You haven’t eaten anything today and I’m assuming that all this energy you’re using is starting to take its toll on you.”

Logan smiled at Roman. “I appreciate your concern, Roman, but I’m fine,” he said. Roman didn’t believe him. “As a vampire, my body can endure a large amount of energy being used before I start to weaken. I just… believe that Patton is weaker than we thought, seeing as I cannot reach him.”

What Roman wanted to say was, _“Yeah, if you were feeding regularly on things that weren’t, like, squirrels you’d be fine, but you’re staying cooped up in here all day and not even feeding regularly on squirrels, so I doubt you’re fine,”_ but instead gave a weak smile and said, “Well, okay then. If you need anything, we’ll be out here.”

“I’ll let you know,” Logan said and, once again, Roman didn’t fully believe him. “And, of course, let me know when you decide to turn in for bed and I will go back to your living room.”

“You got it,” Roman said and, with that, Logan closed the door again.

Roman sighed and turned on his heel, walking back into the living room. Virgil, looking up from his phone, raised an eyebrow.

“No luck?” he asked.

Roman rolled his eyes and nodded, flopping down on the couch next to Virgil. Tonight was one of the few nights they had off, though Roman used the world “off” loosely, considering the fact that they were still expected to review files. Currently, though, their files were discarded on Roman’s table and floor and, instead, replaced with phones and empty take-out containers.

“I thought vampires were supposed to be, like, sensible,” Roman said. “I mean, he’s been around long enough to see the advancements in medicine and how to properly take care of yourself. You’d think he’d understand self care.”

Virgil smirked. “Someone cares a lot.”

Roman rolled his eyes. “Yes, I do care,” he said. “Because I am such a nice person who understands that people, even if that person is a vampire, have limits.”

“Okay, yeah, I understand that, too,” Virgil said. “But I’m not staring longingly with this worried look on my face at your bedroom door every five minutes.”

Roman scoffed. “I do _not_ stare longingly.”

“You keep telling yourself that,” Virgil muttered, turning back to his phone.

“I didn’t invite you here to call me out,” Roman said, leaning his head back to stare up at the ceiling.

“Roman, listen, you know that when you invite me in, you’re also getting my sparkling personality,” Virgil said.

Roman opened his mouth in a hope to say something witty back—probably about Virgil’s sparkling eyes—but was cut off by a knock at his door.

Roman and Virgil shared a look.

“Are we having… more company?” Virgil asked.

“I was about to ask you the same thing,” Roman said, pushing himself up from the couch.

“It’s _your_ apartment, why the fuck would I invite someone over?”

“I don’t know,” Roman said with a flick of his wrist as he approached the door. “You practically live here. Might as well invite over other friends, even if they aren’t as important or amazing as me.”

“You wish,” Virgil said from behind him and Roman smirked and rolled his eyes, swinging open his door.

The first thing he noticed was light blue eyes hidden behind glasses and a couple fallen curls. Blue eyes that were too blue to be natural, too bright to be human. The blue was reflected in the darkness of the hall, the flickering of the light overhead doing nothing to wash away the suddenly chilling atmosphere that had settled over Roman.

The next thing was a smile—too strained to be friendly—that revealed two fangs gleaming back at him.

“Hello,” the vampire said, the cheerfulness of his voice too fake to be seen as anything but threatening.

Roman felt the coldness of fear settle in his stomach. The hairs on the back of his neck shot up and Roman had to clench his fists to stop them from shaking. After two tries, he finally worked around the fear that sat and festered in him and managed out a stuttered, “Hi.”

Roman heard Virgil walk up behind him. He didn’t turn to look but he hoped that Virgil was planning an escape.

“Um-” the vampire cocked his head to the side and sucked in a breath “-I think you have someone of mine.”

_I think you have someone of mine._

Roman’s eyes widened and he whipped his head around to Virgil only to see his friend giving him the same wide-eyed stare.

“Patton,” Roman breathed out, turning back to face the vampire—to face _Patton_ —who was very much alive and in front of Roman and not off somewhere in the woods like everyone thought.

It was then that Roman realized that, despite the fact that Logan has been communicating with Patton for a couple of days, Roman never asked what Logan was telling Patton.

Patton hummed in agreement, still beaming a chilling smile. “I think you should let me in.”

Roman nodded vehemently. “Of course, of course! Come in!” he said, forcing himself through the movements of opening the door wider and stepping back despite the sudden, growing nerves in his stomach that twisted into coils, sending a nauseating feeling over him.

Roman then turned to tell Virgil to go get Logan, but Virgil was already down the hall and swinging open Roman’s bedroom door.

“So, uh, you’re alive,” Roman said stupidly, turning back to Patton, who, instead of looking back at Roman, was looking over one of the open files laid out. Patton hummed and nodded.

Roman remembered Logan saying that Patton was very compassionate, but he was starting to think that Patton had limits. The first one being humans—hunters, to be specific—staying in the same place of residency as Logan.

“Logan-” Roman started to say, not really knowing what he was going to finish with, when Logan sprinted down the hall (at vampire speed) and came to a stop a couple feet in front of Patton, his jaw dropped.

Roman watched as Patton’s eyes softened and, when Patton practically threw himself into Logan’s arms, the fear in Roman’s stomach suddenly slipped away.

Virgil slowly came back down the hall and leaned on the wall next to Roman. Logan practically melted into Patton’s embrace, Patton holding him close with one hand firmly holding the back of his neck, and Roman believed that he had never seen Logan look so… _relaxed_.

Patton then pulled away from Logan and gripped his shoulders. He looked up at the other vampire, his gaze intense as he took in Logan’s appearance. “You’re okay,” Patton finally whispered. He then turned to Roman and stared. “He’s okay.”

Patton didn’t need to say any more; Roman knew what he was implying. “I never had any intention to hurt Logan,” he assured. “He was always safe here, and still is.”

Patton worried his bottom lip, turning back to Logan. “You’re okay,” he repeated softly, pulling his hands back to tug at the cardigan around his neck. “You look tired.”

Logan nodded. “I was trying to reach you again,” he said. “Perhaps that… wore me down. I just needed to know that you, too, were okay.”

Patton shook his head. “You know that doesn’t matter, Lo,” he murmured. “I was just… so _worried_ about you.” He then turned back to Roman and gave him a small smile, this one all kindness with no malice. “I… thank you. For keeping Logan safe. We… we were only able to communicate bits and pieces of where we were and what was going on, but when I found out that you were a hunter from that agency…” Patton trailed off.

“You assumed that I had done something,” Roman filled in and Patton nodded. “I understand your fear, Patton. But I promise you, I never had any plan to do any harm to Logan.”

“Thank you,” Patton repeated, his voice gentle. “And… I’m sorry for making you so scared.”

Roman furrowed his eyebrows. “What?”

“That fear you felt was me,” Patton explained, his smile turning sheepish. “I really don’t like doing that to anyone, especially humans, because it just makes me feel bad, you know? But I was so worried that you and Virgil—Logan told me your names—had done something because our conversations were spotty and few and far in between so I didn’t know what was going on and I was preparing for a fight and-” he huffed out a breath and shook his head. “And I’m sorry.”

“Here I thought I was just anxious,” Virgil said from behind Roman.

“You don’t have to apologize,” Roman said. “I understand your worries. Well, at least Virgil does.”

“If it makes it even, I did sort of… go off on Logan about, like, two weeks ago,” Virgil said.

“In your defense, it was justified,” Logan said.

“Well then, I guess we have a lot to talk about,” Patton said. “I’m sure you two have questions and… a lot to say.”

Roman shook his head. “Whatever we want to know can wait,” he said with a smile. “You two probably want to talk and I’m not gonna be the one to stop you.” He started down the hallway and waved for Virgil to follow him. “We’ll be in my room if you two need anything. Telling you just as I told Logan, make yourself at home.”

When Roman closed his bedroom door behind himself and Virgil, Virgil turned to him with an arched eyebrow.

“So, are you gonna have two vampires staying with you now?” he asked.

“Are you preparing to give me another speech about trust?” Roman asked in return, walking over to bed and flopping down on it. Virgil laid down on his stomach next to Roman, resting his chin on his hands.

“Not this time,” Virgil said. “Patton was ready to literally bite your head off—because, like a normal person, he didn’t trust you—when he thought you hurt Logan. I can appreciate that.”

“Well jokes on you because Patton trusts me.” A pause. “Probably.” Another pause. “Maybe.”

“Well, yeah, because he saw that you haven’t been torturing Logan,” Virgil said. “Now it would make sense for him to trust you, or at least begin to, because he has a legit reason to.”

“Always the sensible one,” Roman said with a smile. “And, to answer your first question, yes. If Patton needs to stay here, too, he can.”

“We can try my apartment, though,” Virgil said. “I know it’s more crowded but…”

“That’s exactly it,” Roman said with a sigh. “It seems like Logan and Patton need to stay under the radar, and the best way to do that is here.”

“Well, then, at least be safe, okay?” Virgil said, tilting his head to look at Roman. “I know that your apartment is more secluded but… you’re still taking a risk and it’s a big one and you don’t really know who’s around here and…” He sighed. “Just be careful, okay?”

Roman smiled. “I always am, Virge.”

Virgil looked as if he was about to say something else when Patton, from the living room, could be heard saying, “Wait, you haven’t told them yet?”

Both Roman and Virgil furrowed their eyebrows and shared a look.

Roman couldn’t properly hear what Logan said next, but whatever it was caused Patton to say, “No, Lo! They deserve to know!”

“Why am I not surprised that there’s another secret?” Virgil muttered, pushing himself up and off the bed.

“It’s probably not anything bad,” Roman said rather unconvincingly. Virgil raised an eyebrow and gave Roman his best _that’s-bullshit-and-you-know-it_ look.

“You said you trusted Logan,” Roman continued, frowning.

“And I do,” Virgil said. “Still not surprised that there’s more truth that we don’t know. More truth that was kept from us.”

At that, Roman sighed and swung open his bedroom door before walking down the hall with Virgil at his heels.

“They need to know, Logan.”

“No, they don’t, Patton, it-”

Patton’s head whipped towards Roman and Virgil when they walked into the living room. “Oh, good! You two are here.”

“Yeah, well, we heard you guys talking about how there’s something else we need to know,” Virgil said, his eyes darting between Logan and Patton.

“Well, yes, there’s something that Logan didn’t tell you two,” Patton said, pulling at the sleeves of his cardigan. “Something that you two need to know.”

“No, they don’t, Patton,” Logan said, fixing his friend with a steely gaze.

“Yes, they do!” Patton defended. “If Roman and Virgil are going to be involved in this, this is something that they have to know!”

“It’s really not, Patton!” Logan snapped. “This is something that doesn’t concern them and, therefore, they don’t need to know it!”

“They have the right to know, Logan. This is something that I caused so-”

“Stop saying that,” Logan bit. “I didn’t tell them for your safety because I knew that-”

“My safety doesn’t matter, Logan! It hasn’t for years!” Patton exclaimed and Roman suddenly felt like he and Virgil were witnessing a conversation they were never meant to hear.  
  
Logan huffed out a breath through his nose, turning his glare from Patton to Roman and Virgil. A chill went down Roman’s spine and he was all too happy for Logan to look back at Patton. “Fine then, Patton, tell them,” he said, his voice too clipped to make it seem as if he was happy with Patton’s decision. “Don’t listen to me.”  
  
“Logan,” Patton said weakly as Logan stormed away down Roman’s hall. They all flinched when Logan slammed the door to Roman’s bedroom shut.  
  
Patton then looked at Roman and Virgil with a sad smile. “Family reunions,” he said, his voice small. “They can’t always be as happy as you expect them to be.”  
  
Roman offered him back a smile and a short laugh. “It’s better than anything my family would’ve had.”

“So what the fuck is going on?” Virgil asked. Roman noted that his nervousness was evident in his voice. “What didn’t Logan tell us?”

“Uh, well,” Patton said, sinking back down onto the couch, taking the end cushion. Roman and Virgil sat down as well, both turning to look to Patton. “Logan told me he already told you two about D.C.”

Roman nodded. “Yeah, he’s after you two,” he said. “You’ve been trying to stop him.”

“Well,” Patton said. He worried his bottom lip and rubbed at the back of his neck. “There’s… more to that.”

“More to that how?” Virgil asked slowly.

“As you both know, I created Logan.” Patton sighed. “I created D.C., too.”

“Wait, what?” Roman exclaimed at the same time as Virgil blurted out, “Why would you do that?”

“I didn’t know that this would happen!” Patton exclaimed, distressed. “I… I…” He turned to Roman and Virgil with a pleading look. “Please, let me explain.”

“I’d be really happy if you did,” Roman said.

“I… I didn’t know that this would happen when I turned D.C.,” Patton said weakly, looking away from them. “I was turned in seventeen-oh-four and never knew my own creator. Vampires didn’t have clans back then. Even though it was over ten years since the Salem Witch Trials, the hysteria hadn’t died down. Witches—actual witches—were being burned, werewolves were getting shot, fae were being mutilated. There was a lot of us, a lot of creatures, myself included, that lived near the area and had to stay out of the public eye. For vampires to travel in a clan… it would only kill us.”

“But you turned Logan,” Roman pointed out.

Patton nodded and huffed out a weak laugh. “Yeah, after over a century later,” he said. “Once everyone’s fear died down, clans started forming. But I had no clan. Even now, I still don’t know who created me, and no vampire is going to start a clan with someone they weren’t created by. You’re supposed to have a special bond with your creator. They’re supposed to be your guide in your second life and I… had no one.” He paused.

“And then came Logan,” Patton continued. “At the time, I’d been travelling by myself for well over a century, having to learn everything about being a vampire by myself. I was… I was so lonely. If I didn’t have anyone when I was alive, I certainly didn’t have anyone then.” He sighed. “And then I found Logan. He was cast out of his village, dying of a plague that was spreading through his entire village. And I… I found my opportunity. Not only could I save him, but I could also finally have a clan of my own. I had to save him.”

“So then where does D.C. come in?” Virgil asked.

“He found us nineteen years later,” Patton said.

Roman furrowed his eyebrows. “He _found_ you?”

Patton nodded. “I don’t know how he figured it out, but he knew that Logan and I were vampires,” he explained. “Maybe he saw us hunting, or maybe we weren’t careful enough with our powers, but he knew, and he came and found us. Found me. He begged me to turn him, telling me that humans didn’t accept him. That maybe he could be accepted by our kind. By vampires.” He swallowed. “I should’ve never turned him. Vampires turn humans because they’re dying or maybe even because they’re bored, but humans don’t just come and beg to be turned with no other plan in mind.”

“Yet you did,” Virgil said.

Patton nodded. “It was… it was so selfish of me to do that,” he said quietly. “At the time, I wasn’t thinking about why D.C. wanted to be turned or what he would do when he was a vampire. I was just thinking of expanding the clan that I created with someone that wanted to be there.” He sighed. “Even now, but especially back then, I worried that I just forced Logan into a life that he didn’t want. But with D.C., I thought that, if I knew he was there because he wanted to be, things would seem easier.”

“Logan appreciates what you did for him,” Roman’s voice was gentle. “He speaks so highly of you.”

“And I don’t think I deserve any of that praise,” Patton said with a sad smile.

Roman frowned and Virgil quietly said, “So what happened next?”

“A couple years passed and things were okay,” Patton said. “We very rarely fed off of humans, only off of those who trusted us. We mostly stuck with animals, though, and our… peaceful lifestyle started to make D.C. antsy. He started asking me when we were going to start going after humans, when they would start getting what they deserved. And that… that was when I realized that D.C.’s plan wasn’t to escape humanity, it was to get _revenge_ on humanity. He saw myself and Logan as his ticket to getting back at those who didn’t accept him as a human.”

Roman nodded. “Logan told me that you all started fighting because you two got in his way.”

Patton nodded, staring down at his lap. “D.C. and I started fighting. He kept trying to tempt us to listen to him, to go back to his hometown and kill those who wronged him, but it’s much harder to tempt another vampire. He couldn’t convince us, so one night he just… left.” Patton shook his head. “The next week, the few humans that we were very close with turned up slaughtered. And, from then on, it just kept happening.”

“You can’t stop him?” Virgil questioned.

“We couldn’t back then because we didn’t know where he went,” Patton explained. “Logan couldn’t even communicate with him because D.C. had him completely blocked off. But once he started consuming human blood, he became stronger than us. Even while Logan and I, over the years, found humans that we could be close with and use as our source, it wasn’t enough. D.C. always had more and he always came back to kill the humans we had.” Patton then turned to Roman and Virgil. “That’s why I’m telling you both this. I… I got us into this mess. People are being killed because of my selfishness. If you two are going to be involved, you have to know the risk of being involved with us. Being involved with me. D.C. is coming after us and anyone associated with us because we couldn’t help him the way he wanted us to.”

“We’re not running away,” Roman said. Virgil nodded in agreement. “I… I care about Logan’s safety and, honestly Patton, I care about yours, too. We-” he pointed to himself and Virgil “-Both do. We’re already involved. D.C. knows who I am and he thinks that you two are dead. If I wanted to run, I don’t think I could, and I’m not going to.”

Patton worried his lip and shook his head. “You really shouldn’t care about my safety, Roman,” he said. “That’s not something that matters anymore.”

“And I don’t believe you at all,” Roman said.

Patton sighed. “D.C. and I have been fighting for years,” he said. “Logan might have gotten dragged into it—and I can never forgive myself for putting him through all of this—but the fight started between me and D.C.” He worried his bottom lip again, his fangs poking harshly into his lip, and hesitated. “It has to end with one of us,” he finally continued. “One day, we’ll fight and only one of us will come out of it. And I don’t think it’s going to be me. I can’t worry about my own safety and protect myself when D.C. has hurt so many people. No one should be worrying about my safety.”

“Bullshit,” Virgil said. “You… you really didn’t know any of this was going to happen, Patton. You can’t blame yourself and think that what happens to you doesn’t matter because D.C. became a murderous asshole.”

“But this is my fault!” Patton explained and, while it might have just been the lighting, Roman thought he saw tears brim in Patton’s eyes. “Every human that we have gotten close to has been killed because I couldn’t handle my own loneliness! Even with Logan, even with my best friend, I wanted to expand my clan because I never wanted myself or anyone to feel alone in the world! But now…” He swallowed thickly. “Now look where that got all of us. Logan and I were almost killed, you two were dragged into this and are now risking your jobs _and_ lives, and people are still dying. Roman, Logan told me that you were attacked! That… don’t you both see that things are just getting worse? If I didn’t create D.C., those seven people wouldn’t have been killed, along with all the people before them, and-”

“Stop focusing on the ‘what if’s!” Virgil said. “All of this shit is happening, and it fucking sucks. But there was no way for you to know that this would happen. And it’s not like you and Logan have just been dicking around for the past—what?—almost two centuries doing nothing. No, I know from what Roman _and_ Logan have said that you guys have been fighting to put a stop to him. We both knew what we were getting into when we first met Logan, and that doesn’t change now. We’re here to fight, too.”

Patton gave a small smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Thanks, kiddo,” he whispered. “Both of you. And I’m… I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing,” Roman said softly. “You didn’t know that this was gonna be what happened. We can’t hold it over you, we’re _not_ gonna hold it over you. We’re working with you to fix this, not only because it’s our job, but because we want to. I- We care about Logan, and with the way he’s talked about you, we care about you, too.”

Patton nodded. He rubbed at his eyes behind his glasses before looking between Roman and Virgil. “Thank you,” he whispered.

\--

Even when Virgil finally left to go back to his own apartment, Logan still hadn’t come out of Roman’s room.

“He’s mad at me,” Patton said quietly, curled up in the corner of Roman’s couch. “He… he didn’t want me telling anybody about this.”

Roman sighed and nodded. “I figured that, with how annoyed he was and all,” he said. After a slight hesitation, he pushed himself up off the couch. “I’m gonna go talk to him.” He saw Patton nod out of the corner of his eye and he made his way down the hall and to his bedroom. He knocked twice before announcing, “Logan, I’m coming in.”

When he walked into his room, he found Logan sitting in the chair pushed up against Roman’s wall, staring out the window.

“I apologize if I offended you for not telling you about Patton and his connection to D.C.,” Logan said, not turning to face Roman when he walked in.

“I’m not upset with you,” Roman said, sitting on the edge of his bed. “But… you could’ve told me. I wouldn’t have done anything to Patton.”

Logan sighed and nodded. “I understand that,” he said. “It’s not that I didn’t trust _you_. It’s that, with knowing your job and its requirements, I couldn’t tell you just in case it got back to your agency. Even though Patton is not the vampire doing all of this, if your agency found out that he created the vampire who is, he’d…”

“He’d be held accountable, too,” Roman filled in with a sigh, knowing how his agency worked.

Logan nodded. “Precisely,” he said. “And Patton is my best friend. I… I can’t even fathom the thought of losing him.”

“I understand,” Roman said. “That’s why he’s safe here.” Logan turned to Roman with a raised eyebrow. “I know how much Patton means to you, and, honestly, I can see that he’s a good guy. After all this, after talking to him, there’s no way in hell that I’m just going to throw him back out there. I might have my faults but I’m not that terrible.” He huffed out a laugh. “Besides, you were right, Patton’s great.”

“Well, I sincerely appreciate you,” Logan said. Roman’s cheeks flushed and Logan cleared his throat, quickly continuing with, “I mean, appreciate everything you’re doing, of course.”

Roman smiled. “Thank you, Logan.”

“No, thank _you_ ,” Logan said, smiling back at him. “You’ve done more for me than I could’ve ever asked for and I don’t know how I could ever repay you.”

“You don’t have to, Logan,” Roman said. “I’m your friend. I care about you a lot so… of course I’m going to do all of this for you.”

Logan smiled and Roman couldn’t ignore how his heart skipped a beat.


	7. chapter seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What Roman felt for Logan was a forest fire: all encompassing, all consuming, perhaps just as dangerous. Roman believed that he’d been burned since the night he met Logan; he just didn’t realize the damage—if it could even be called damage—until now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warnings: roman is super gay, one (1) cheesy vampire joke (credit to dahlia's joke corner), some slightly self-deprecating thoughts

The moon hung high above the car as Virgil drove Roman to the curb outside his apartment.

“You know the drill, text me when you’re in,” Roman said, reaching over to grab his bag from the back.

“I will,” Virgil said. “And try to get some sleep, okay? I can tell you haven’t been.”

Roman was about to deny it—that no, he had actually be sleeping perfectly fine and hadn’t been kept up by anxieties and any other thoughts that decided to run through Roman’s head in the middle of the night—but, instead, he stifled a yawn with his hand.

“I’m fine,” Roman finally said and Virgil slid him a look.

“ _ Roman, _ ” Virgil said and Roman sighed at his tone.

“I’ll try to sleep tonight, okay?” Roman said and Virgil gave a small smile.

“Good,” he said. “Now get out of the car. It’s almost midnight and I want to go to bed.”

Roman laughed, pushing the passenger door open. “So kind, so considerate,” he teased, climbing out of the car. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“You know it,” Virgil said before Roman shut the door. He walked into the complex, the sound of Virgil driving away behind him and, now away from the comfort of his friend, Roman sighed, his exhaustion breathed throughout his system.

Virgil had been right in that Roman hadn’t been sleeping. As each night came and went, Roman found himself staying up later and later with no reprieve for the thoughts that followed him.

Roman was nervous. Too nervous. He had the agency to worry about and the fact that he had two vampires living with him—and it wasn’t even like  _ that  _ was the problem because, honestly, it felt like Patton and Logan were protecting him more sometimes—and there was a third vampire on the loose somewhere and-

“Shit,” Roman muttered to himself as he approached his front door. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to stabilize, before slipping his keys out of his pocket and unlocking the door.

Patton, leaning with Logan on the kitchen counter, was the first one to see Roman when he walked in. “Hey Roman!” Patton beamed as Roman dropped his bag onto the nearest chair.

Logan turned, looking over his shoulder, and gave Roman a smile. “You’re back.”

“Of course I am,” Roman said with a tired smile. He ran a hand through his hair, pushing it up and away from his eyes, as he approached the counter, leaning on it next to Logan. “I could never abandon my two favorite vampires.”

“Because you know so many?” Logan asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh, yeah, me and Virgil have you all ranked,” Roman said. “We fight over which one of you is at the top of the list. But just know that it’s decided that D.C. is at, like, the way bottom of the list.”

“Well, I’m glad that we rank higher than him,” Logan laughed, adjusting his glasses, which had slid down the bridge of his nose.

“Of course, by a landslide,” Roman said, pushing himself away from the counter and turning to grab a water bottle from the fridge. 

“How was work today?” Patton asked. Roman could see the concerned look behind his eyes; he pretended he didn’t notice and, in response, shrugged. “You just… seem tired.”

“Well, it’s work,” Roman dismissed, fumbling with the cap of the water bottle instead of actually opening it. “And work is stressful and tiring but it’s fine.”

Logan and Patton each gave Roman a look and then slid each other the same look.

Roman huffed. “You know, it’s sometimes considered rude to have a separate conversation in front of another person, especially if they’re not included in the telepathy.”

“If you really must know, we don’t believe you,” Logan said. “You do seem rather stressed. So, are you okay?”

Roman normally would’ve continued with his deflecting, not wanting to burden Logan and Patton—who definitely had problems of their own—with his problems, but the softness of Logan’s tone pushed Roman into breaking his ruse.

“Just-” Roman sighed and leaned back on the counter, setting the water bottle down before resting his chin on his hands. “I guess there’s a lot going on at work. But it’s really no big deal, it’s-”

“Is it because of us?” Patton asked. Roman wished that he sounded more accusatory, more defensive, but it just ended up sounding like Patton already knew the answer.

“No, not at all,” Roman said, shaking his head. He then hesitated and worried his bottom lip before continuing, “Or, okay, maybe that’s a part of it. But it’s not… it’s not how you’re thinking. Like, my boss is just getting more and more frustrated because, in his eyes, this case is starting to run cold. And I’m protecting you two and—I swear that’s not the issue here—I just feel that-” he sighed again, blowing his fallen bangs out of his face “-I just feel like, if something goes wrong, it’s gonna be my fault. I’m scared that I’m dragging Virgil down in something that could ruin his career, I’m worried that I’m putting you two in danger, Lockwell’s trying to figure out what’s going on and why his two best agents haven’t found anything yet…” He trailed off and shrugged. “I just feel like I’m at the center of a shitshow and I’m gonna be the one that brings it all down.”

“Roman,” Patton said gently, frowning. “You know that’s not true.”

“No, I don’t know that,” Roman said. “I’m… I’m terrified that I’m going to put you two in danger. I—don’t get me wrong, having you two here is honestly… really nice—but I feel like if something happens, it’ll be because of me.”

“Roman, if we felt that we were in danger, we would’ve left,” Logan said, his voice quiet. “I told you this when I came back and I’ll tell you it again, I-  _ we _ trust you. You are doing so much to help us, I don’t even know if I could put it properly into words. More than that, though? We’re here because... we want to be. You’re our friend, Roman, and we won’t leave you defenseless if things ever get difficult.”

_ Friend. _

Roman should’ve known that something was always different with Logan and the way Roman trusted him. It should’ve been obvious, even to him, that it was always something  _ more _ . Something not as clear, something much more confusing. Something much more heart racing.

Something much more than just a friend.

Perhaps Roman’s current situation was not the only thing that had been making him nervous. Perhaps it was the way his heart always gave a flutter at seeing Logan smile, or how Roman was always distracted by the way his eyes shone behind his glasses.

Perhaps it was because Roman didn’t realize he had fallen until he was already a thousand feet down.

Perhaps it was because he knew that this—that him and Logan—was the one thing that Roman could never have. If he thought that he was putting them all into danger already, he didn’t know what would happen if he let himself reach out, let himself take Logan’s hand in his own and confess what he felt, confess the feelings he had long before he even realized they were there.

Perhaps.

Roman smiled, hoping any sadness was either hidden or taken for exhaustion. “Yeah, friends,” he agreed, wishing, hoping, wanting something more. “Thank you. Both of you.”

\--

“So what do you think? Funny, right?”

Roman slid a glare to Virgil. Virgil, in return, only grinned back. Roman had suggested going back to his apartment for their break so that they had a chance to get away from the agency, even if it was just for an hour, but now he was beginning to regret it.

“Virgil, I’m pretty sure two vampires—who, let me remind you, are centuries years old—don’t want to hear that joke.”

Virgil rolled his eyes. “Come on, Ro,” he groaned. “They’re gonna love it.”

“ _ Patton _ would like it-”

“Yeah because Patton actually has some life in him,” Virgil said. “And if Patton laughs, Logan will probably laugh by default and-”

“Oh you _ so _ don’t know Logan if you think he’s gonna laugh at a joke like that,” Roman said, shaking his head. 

“And you know him so well?” Virgil asked with a raised eyebrow.

Roman looked away with an eye roll as he felt his cheeks flush. “I know him well enough,” he mumbled as the pair approached Roman’s door. As he took his keys out of his pocket, he warily eyed Virgil. “Are you going to behave?”

Virgil huffed and rolled his eyes. “Perfectly.”

Roman grinned. “Splendid,” he said and unlocked his door.

He should’ve known that Virgil was bullshitting.

“Hey Patton!” Virgil exclaimed, walking into Roman’s apartment. “You would say you’re a fan of jokes, yes?”

Roman sighed and followed him in.

Logan, from where he was sitting on the couch with a book in his lap, looked up at Virgil with a bemused expression. “Virgil, you’re back.” A pause. “Again.”

“Listen,” Virgil said, turning to Logan and jutting a finger at him. “I was here first. You cannot push me out of this apartment, no matter how hard you try.”

“I didn’t say anything of the sort,” Logan said, turning back to his book as Virgil peeled off further into the apartment to find Patton. Roman dropped his bag on the floor and flopped down on the couch next to him. “You seem awfully tired today,” he noted.

Roman nodded and leaned his head back, staring up at the ceiling. “Me and Virgil switch as to who’s loud and cheery and who’s one shot of espresso away from, like, a heart attack,” he said. “Believe it or not, I was actually doing fairly well. And then Virgil found a terrible joke.”

“Did he?” Logan raised an eyebrow.

“ _ Awful, _ Logan,” Roman sighed. “And I am usually a lover of comedy, but this one is just terrible.”

“Well, I’m sorry you had to suffer through that,” Logan said, chuckling. Finally giving up on getting any reading done, he shut the book and set it on Roman’s coffee table.

“Oh, no, if I had to suffer, you’re going to, too,” Roman said. “You can’t leave me alone in this. Besides, I think Virgil is gonna force you to listen.”

“Virgil seems extremely energetic today.”

“It’s because he’s excited to see his new best friend Patton.” Roman dramatically laid a hand across his chest and leaned his head onto Logan’s shoulder. His face warmed at Logan not shrugging him off. “I’ve been replaced. You’re all I have left now, Lo.”

Whatever Logan was about to say was cut off by Virgil dragging a giggling Patton into the living room. Virgil sent a quick glance between Roman and Logan but didn’t say anything about Roman’s head on Logan’s shoulder.

“I see Patton found your joke funny,” Roman said, raising an eyebrow at Virgil.

“No, he hasn’t even heard it yet. But Patton, because he is a good person-” he glared at Roman and Roman flipped him off. Logan laughed. “-is excited no matter what.”

“Get on with your bad joke, Surly Temple,” Roman said, smirking.

“Okay, okay, okay,” Virgil said in preparation. “I heard this today. Thought it was fucking hysterical. What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire?

“I already know I’m going to hate this,” Logan said at the same time Patton said, “What?”

“Frostbite.”

Roman groaned as Patton dissolved into laughter and Logan slid Roman a pained expression. “I’m realizing now that I never should’ve come back.”

“Oh, yeah, you definitely shouldn’t have,” Roman said, laughing. “Still, you did. But now you get to see my beautiful face every day, so it’s fine.”

“I do see how that could be a perk,” Logan said. Roman flushed and averted his eyes from where they were trained on Logan and Logan, seeming to realize what he just said, coughed to clear his throat. “Sorry, I didn’t mean-”

“You didn’t mean to speak the truth?” Roman replied, slipping back into what he hoped was his usual charismatic, charming self and not his  _ oh my God I’m having feelings _ persona. “It’s okay to admit that I’m the most gorgeous person you’ve ever seen in your entire life  _ and _ after-life.”

Logan rolled his eyes but Roman didn’t miss the smile on his lips. “You’re preposterous.”

“I don’t know the meaning of the word!”

“It means ridiculous.”

“Oh,” Roman said. “Well, you learn something new every day. But you’re in denial, it’s okay, I understand. Hard to admit true beauty when you see it.”

“Perhaps,” Logan said.

Roman, about to say something that would hopefully be witty and charming, was distracted by Virgil piping up with, “Roman, you’re not even listening to me.”

Roman turned to Virgil, smirking. “Were you talking about how I was right in Patton liking your joke and Logan not? Because if so, then I heard every word you were saying.” A pause. “If not, then no, I had no clue what you just said.”

Virgil rolled his eyes. “So distracted, Roman.”

Roman bit his tongue, stopping himself from saying  _ “How could I not be?” _ and completely making a fool of himself.

There was no reason to even bother, he thought. He could charm and dazzle as much as he wanted, but he knew deep down that whatever he wanted wasn’t going to happen.

\--

It took thirty seconds of being back in the car for Virgil to begin questioning.

“So, you and Logan…”

Roman arched an eyebrow at Virgil’s incomplete statement, though he feigned ignorance as he kept his eyes trained to his phone. “Me and Logan what?”

“You two seem very close,” Virgil said, his tone pointing to what he really meant. Roman being Roman, however, decided that he wasn’t going to give in that easily.

“Jealous?” Roman smirked.

“No, I mean-”

“Don’t worry, Virgil,” Roman said. “Just know that, if you were ever poisoned by some killer in an alley, I would carry you back to my apartment and nurse you back to health, probably forming a bond with you in the process. It isn’t just Logan who gets the special treatment.”

“That’s not what I-”

“And you have Patton!” Roman continued. “He seems to adore you, which is, honestly, extremely adorable. He’s like the literal embodiment of the sun, and you’re-”

“Are you in love with Logan?” 

Roman looked up from his phone. Stopped at a red light, Virgil was turned to him with a raised eyebrow. “Well, that’s the million dollar question, isn’t it?” Roman asked with a clipped laugh.

“I’m being serious, Roman,” Virgil said as the light turned green and he began to drive again. 

“I am too, Virgil,” Roman said. “You’re not the only one wondering that, you know.”

“Well, I was just asking because,” Virgil began. He then paused for a moment, as if recollecting his thoughts, before continuing. “I’m gonna level with you, Ro. Knowing you, I kinda always thought something else was there? Just because of how quick you were to be all heroic and knightly and all that, but then I also thought that that might have just been you?”

“And then?” Roman asked. He leaned his head back on the headrest, staring up at the roof of the car.

“Then I realized it was something else.” Roman nodded and, even when not looking at his friend, he could feel Virgil’s eyes constantly flickering from him and the road. “So?”

“So, what?”

“Are you into Logan?”

“You know, Virge, you originally asked if I was in love with him.”

“You know, your deflections really start to lose their charm after a while.”

“Well, what do you want me to say, Virgil?” Roman asked, exasperated . He turned to face Virgil. “Do you want me to tell you the truth? That I think something more has always been there? That these feelings have been building up inside of me for weeks and I’ve only come to realize them when I know that they’re nonsense? That I find myself more and more occupied with me and Logan and us never being able to be what we could’ve been if things were different? If he wasn’t a vampire and I wasn’t the hunter assigned to hunting vampires? That, no matter what Logan says, I cannot see him finding a reason to stay once this whole bullshit with D.C. is over because he’s been on this earth for so long, why would one human hold him back? That yes, perhaps I do, but even I know that some dreams must remain fantasy because of how out of reach they are?” He huffed out a breath and dragged a hand through his hair, pulling slightly on the ends. “Because that’s the truth, Virgil.”

Virgil frowned. “Roman…”

“Please, save the lecture,” Roman said, slouching down in his seat as Virgil drove into the agency’s parking garage. “You don’t need to tell me about how I’m being stupid or an idiot for, once again, loving someone that I can’t have. I already know.”

“I wasn’t going to say any of that,” Virgil said quietly. “And if you honestly think that I’m gonna, like, call you a dumbass—and actually mean it—because of  _ this _ , then, shit, Ro, you’ve got a lot of reevaluating to do on who I am.”

Roman worried his bottom lip, looking anywhere else but at his friend. “Sorry,” he finally mumbled.

“You don’t need to be,” Virgil said, pulling into a parking space. “I’m not offended.”

Virgil parked but neither of them moved to get out of the car.

“What were you going to say, then?” Roman asked quietly. He leaned his head on the window and stared out at the other rows of cars.

“To be careful,” Virgil said and Roman, finally turning back to him, furrowed his eyebrows. “Looking past the shitshow that is our job, I don’t want to see you get hurt. Not in that way, not again.”

“Can’t really hurt something again if it never healed, but, hey, that’s life,” Roman said, his tone too casual, and shrugged. “Mine just happens to be one full of pathetically clinging to the wrong people ninety percent of the time.” A pause. “Ten percent for error, of course.”

“Roman,” Virgil said quietly.

“What?” Roman questioned. “I’m not saying that people are forced to stay with me, but even you can’t deny that I have had my unfair shares of being left, being alone. This just adds to my charm.” He forced a smirk that he hoped didn’t look like a grimace. “Everyone loves a hero with a tragic backstory.”

“If we’re really playing into this fairytale metaphor of yours,” Virgil said. “Then sure, yeah, maybe, but that doesn’t mean you’re gonna get a tragic end.”

“Wouldn’t that be romantic, though?” Roman huffed out a humorless laugh.

“No, it wouldn’t. It would suck because your life shouldn’t be marked down in history or whatever as something depressing,” Virgil said. “But you didn’t let me finish. I want you to be careful because maybe, just maybe, you shouldn’t… shoot down your feelings so quickly?”

Roman raised his eyebrows. “Virgil Winter, are you telling me to be optimistic?”

“I’m telling you to get out of your own head and not get so… riled up.” Virgil shrugged. “Am I being hypocritical? Oh, yeah, definitely. But we can’t all be perfect.”

“Like me,” Roman beamed, the smile on his face genuine.

“Sure, whatever helps you sleep,” Virgil said.

Still, though, Virgil reached across the console and gently knocked their knuckles together.

\--

What Roman felt for Logan was a forest fire: all encompassing, all consuming, perhaps just as dangerous. Roman believed that he’d been burned since the night he met Logan; he just didn’t realize the damage—if it could even be called damage—until now.

Logan was sitting on the other side of the couch, one leg tucked underneath him, the other hugged to his chest with his chin resting on the kneecap. His eyes were squeezed shut; his glasses had slid down the bridge of his nose. While staying with Roman, Roman gradually integrated clothes of Logan’s (and now Patton’s) own into his apartment and, now, Logan sat, practically swallowed in a hoodie Roman had given to him. At the time, Logan claimed that it wasn’t necessary; he said he felt guilty over Roman spending money on garments that Logan didn’t need since, due to his vampiric state, he had no reason for outdoor wear that would protect him against elements that didn’t affect him.. 

Roman still noticed when Logan began to wear it more and more, though he convinced himself not to say anything.

“I can feel you staring,” Logan suddenly murmured.

“You’re just concentrating awfully hard,” Roman noted.

“Well, yes, I need to stay in contact with Patton while he’s out,” Logan said.

“So you’re talking with him right now?”

“No, but I’m reaching him,” Logan explained. “It gives me a sense of where he is.”

“Patton just left to go hunting, Lo,” Roman said. “The sun is still setting, he looks very human, and, if worst comes to worse, he can make people feel all happy and calm around him. I think he’s going to be alright.”

“Yes, but-” Logan then sucked in a breath and squeezed his eyes tighter, as if he was overcome with pain. After a moment, he regained composure, even if it was a bit strained. “-if I know where he is at all times, we can be sure that he’s safe.”

“Yeah, but if you’re constantly wearing yourself thin tracking his every move, you might not have enough energy to find him when you really need to,” Roman pointed out. “With your diet of occasional squirrels and, like, rabbits, I guess, from the forest, I don’t think it’s good for you to be exhausting yourself like this.”

Logan sighed and finally opened his eyes. He turned to face Roman and his red eyes reflected the light of the setting sun. “I hate it when you’re correct.” His voice held no bite.

“Hey, I know you’re some type of vampire-genius who is really smart, but I have my moments,” Roman beamed and Logan, instead of rolling his eyes like Roman normally would’ve expected, smiled.

“And I never said that you didn’t,” Logan said.

“Oh, Logan, you’re such a charmer!” Roman threw his hand to his chest. If he was being honest, though, he really wasn’t exaggerating, or at least not fully.

“I have my moments.”

“And I never said you didn’t,” Roman shot back with a smirk and Logan let out a small laugh and Roman’s eyes, even if just for a moment, flicked down to Logan’s lips and-

_ No. Nope. Not doing this. _

Roman averted his gaze, begging his cheeks to cease their blushing. He could not keep this up, could not allow himself to toy with his own heart so much. He and Logan weren’t supposed to happen and to keep up the banter, the smirks, and the compliments,laced with something that seemed a lot like flirting, would only serve to hurt Roman further. Looking past whether or not Logan would’ve even reciprocated his feelings—because, really, at this point, that couldn’t be what Roman worried over—he and Logan couldn’t happen because of the situation they both found themselves in. There were too many risks to calculate, too much possible hurt on the horizon, and-

“Roman, are you alright?” Logan asked and Roman, perhaps too quickly, whipped his head back to Logan. Logan was studying him, an intense look in his eyes with a crease between his brows. “You’re… flushed. Are you feeling alright?”

Roman thought for a moment.

“I’m in such lovely company,” he smiled, leaning forward, shortening the gap in between them. “How could I not be so affected?”

Maybe if Roman continued with it, Logan would think he was just being nice, or perhaps maybe even joking, and, yeah, it would hurt at first but Roman would get over it, just as he’s gotten over many things in his life before and-

What Roman didn’t account for was Logan leaning slightly forward as well, a smirk gracing his own face. “You say that quite a lot, Roman,” he said, cocking his head slightly. “Do you say that to everyone you come across?”

“Only the ones with glasses,” Roman said. “I do love a man in glasses.”

Logan smiled. “And I do appreciate a man with charm.”

“My, Logan, I think I’m rubbing off on you,” Roman teased. “Do I detect a bit of flirting?”

“I believe that’s what you could call it.”

Roman didn’t quite process his thoughts from that moment and the next, when he finally closed the gap between them, but he had a feeling it went something like,  _ Fuck this, fuck apprehensions, I’m doing this _ .

Roman and Logan’s lips instantly fit together, as if pieces of a puzzle finally connecting, and it did not take long for Roman’s hands to fly to Logan’s hair. His hands fisted in Logan’s brown hair as Logan brought his own to the neckline of Roman’s shirt, pulling him closer. 

When Logan’s fangs lightly grazed Roman’s lip, Roman was unable to stop the gasp from escaping his mouth and, tightening his grip in Logan’s hair, he began to kiss his way down Logan’s jaw and-

“Wait, Roman.”

Despite the gentleness of Logan’s tone, Roman couldn’t help but freeze up at the words, panic being suddenly struck through him. He loosened his grip on Logan immediately and, pulling away, he noticed that Logan’s glasses were skewed upon his face.

“Is this okay?” Roman asked, his words quiet and airy. “We can stop. We don’t have to do this.”

“No, this is- this is quite alright,” Logan said softly. “More than alright, actually. But I… I need to know if this is alright with  _ you _ . I don’t want you to think that I am taking advantage of your hospitality or that I’m using you for something and-”

“Logan,” Roman interrupted before Logan could talk himself into a downwards spiral. Gently, slowly, he cupped Logan’s jaw. “I have to admit, this is something I’ve been thinking about for… a while.  _ You _ are something—some _ one _ —I’ve been thinking about for a while, too.” He sighed, flicking his eyes away for a moment before back to Logan. “I know that there are gonna be… difficulties, to say the least, when it comes to this. But I… I don’t want to hold back feelings because of fears, because of the situation we’re in.” He worried his bottom lip, hesitating, before continuing, “If this is alright with you, if you’re comfortable with this, I want to try. So-” he swallowed “-is it?”

Logan nodded slowly. “Considering I find myself in the same situation as you,” he said. “Yes, I told you before and I’ll say it again: this is okay.” Logan gently toyed with the neckline of Roman’s shirt, his fingers running over the material. “Like you said, there can—and probably will—be challenges with this but, perhaps you’ve inspired me, Roman, because I don’t want to let this be something that escapes me.”

“I still have to do my job,” Roman said quietly. “Virgil and I can’t let D.C. continue to snake around us.”

Logan nodded. “And I still have to protect myself, protect Patton,” he said. “But I don’t think that that will stop this. We were able to both work as singular units and work together before any... feelings were brought to surface. I don’t think that will stop now.”

Roman hummed in agreement. “You’re right.”

“I…” Logan worried his bottom lip and averted his eyes. “You will have to forgive me, though, if I don’t know entirely what I’m doing. I… despite all my years on earth, relationships like this haven’t been my main focus.”

Roman smiled. “That’s okay,” he assured. “Like I said, we’re trying. We can help each other. We can work as a team.”

Logan shifted his eyes back to Roman and smiled in return. “Then I think this can work,”  he said, his words not filling the room and, instead, only reaching Roman.

“I think this can, too,” Roman agreed before once again, softly, closing the gap between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey all!!! thank you all so much for reading. i just want to let you know that, as of monday, i have two weeks left of my semester and then finals week. that means that my life is gonna be hell for three weeks with projects and essays and exams omfg. that means that, once again, there might be week/week and a half breaks between chapters, but i promise that i'm not abandoning you all!!! i just gotta finish off the semester well omfg
> 
> ethospathoslogan.tumblr.com


	8. chapter eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Text me when you get home."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woah can i just say that you guys are literally the best readers ever for waiting for over two weeks for this update 
> 
> for those of you who are curious as to where tf i've been for the past two weeks, i'm currently finishing up my spring semester!!! so i've been drowning in projects and finals lmao. if i'm being honest, i still have three finals left. but i just continued working on this chapter and all of a sudden i wasn't able to stop so!!! here we are!!!
> 
> also tho i did kind of plan to take a little break to get projects and final stuff done, which is why i left you guys off with logince becoming canon because, you know, gotta give the people what they want
> 
> also, how i think the rest of this fic is gonna go is that, originally, i had eleven chapters planned (ten actual chapters & an extended epilogue), but now i'm thinking i'm gonna combine chapters 9 & 10 to make one mega chapter (unless it gets just Too Long). so, keep an eye out for that!!! by the next update, you'll know
> 
> tw for this chapter: angst with a side of angst, mention of animal death (because vampires have to feed), a lot of curses, crying, panicking, shouting, a lot of emotions, some self-deprecating thoughts

Roman had really hoped that, after all their time being alive and being vampires, Logan and Patton would’ve learned how to properly dispose of whatever things they ate. It was Vampire 101 (probably): be discreet.

Still, though, thirty minutes after Roman and Virgil arrived to work that morning, the agency received a call from a hunter who had found multiple animal corpses completely drained of blood. Lockwell was now on top of the world because their vampire case wasn’t running cold and Roman was sure that him and Logan were going to have their first fight when he got home.

(“Do you think he’ll appreciate it if I tell him that at least it’s not drained humans?” Virgil had whispered to Roman after Lockwell told them the news.

“Don’t you fucking dare,” Roman had hissed back.)

Now, Roman and Virgil were back with Lockwell in the room with the board covered in papers, research, articles, anything the agency could get its hands on to point in the direction of their killer. The reports had just arrived of the found animals—squirrels, foxes, deer—and Lockwell was pinning the copies of those reports to the board, somehow managing to find a space for them.

The reports said what Roman already knew: animals, all drained of blood, no wounds except for two puncture marks.

It was like the conference room was slowly filling up with water, each drip bringing the surface closer and closer to Roman’s neck.

“That hunter said he found no other trace of the vampire,” Lockwell said, finally turning back to Roman and Virgil, who were trying to look as calm and casual as possible. “No human-like sightings, not even any footprints.”

Footprints couldn’t be left behind if someone was flying.

“Well, yeah, as we know, that vampire can disappear into smoke,” Roman said. “He probably only appeared just to do the killing and then disappeared again.”

“Yes, perhaps,” Lockwell murmured, tapping his fingers on the table.

Virgil furrowed his eyebrows. “Is there something else?” he asked, casting both Roman and Lockwell a wary look.

“I’m not quite sure,” Lockwell said with a sigh. “I just… I truly believe that there is another one of these things roaming around. It was able to stay under cover because of this first one, but now it made a mistake.” He shook his head. “It just seems to be the most plausible explanation. What vampire would suddenly change its eating habits?”

Roman discovered that he couldn’t find any words that would make this situation better.

“Maybe he killed those humans for a reason?” Virgil said and Roman couldn’t have loved his best friend more. “I mean, we all already think that those seven victims are connected. Maybe that’s all he was after?”

“I think either this thing is preparing for a hunt,” Lockwell said. “Or there’s another one. You’re telling me that, after weeks of radio silence with no humans being attacked, this thing suddenly starts going after animals? In a city full of frightened people?” He shook his head. “I think there’s another one out there, and it’s getting close to the city.”

_ They’re already in the city,  _ Roman thought, but of course he didn’t dare say it.

Lockwell opened his mouth, preparing to say something else, when there was a sudden knock on the conference room door. Virgil and Roman’s head whipped towards the door as Lockwell said, “Come in.” One of the agency’s scientists from the branch that dealt with equipment building walked in, carrying a box.

“Mr. Lockwell, Sir,” he said. “I’ve been ordered to let you know that the prototype you’ve requested has been completed and that copies are already in the making.”

Roman furrowed his eyebrows as the scientist set the box down on the table. “Prototype of what?”

“Oh, yes, this,” Lockwell said, sliding the box towards himself. “Prince, Winter, I’ve been meaning to show you two this. It’s a device that we have been developing to make catching these things… easier.”

“How so?” Virgil asked slowly as Lockwell opened up the box. Roman tried to peer over the table to see its contents.

“Well, it disables these things’ main weapon,” Lockwell said and, with that, pulled out the metal contraption. “With this, they might as well be defenseless.”

Lockwell handed over what was in his hands to Roman and, for a second, Roman genuinely thought he was going to be sick. Leather straps, wide enough to fit around a person’s head, connected to what only could have been described as if someone took a miniature metal cage and cut it in half. The straps were designed to wrap around tightly with little to no slipping; the metal wiring meant to keep something at bay, keep something trapped.

“A muzzle,” Virgil breathed out, for Roman couldn’t.

Lockwell nodded. “That’s right,” he said. “Slip this thing on them, give them wolfsbane, and we’re set.”

Holding the muzzle in his hands, Roman realized just how inhumane it felt. To treat vampires as if they were only feral animals that needed restricting was so…  _ wrong _ .

Roman swallowed thickly. “And you think these will actually work?” he asked, his voice barely filling the room.

“Of course they will,” Lockwell said. “These muzzles, paired with our wolfsbane, is the next best thing in trapping these things. They can barely fight back when poisoned, and now we won’t have to worry about getting our throats torn out.” He then arched an eyebrow. “Is there a problem, Prince?”

Roman forced himself to shake his head. “Not at all.” A forced smile. “Just glad to see that we’re finally putting an end to this.” A bitter taste, an insufferable taste, filled Roman’s mouth.

This was not what Roman wanted. He wanted to protect, to serve, to find a balance between human and monster. Not this, not lying to save… was is Logan and Patton? Himself?

Was he really saving anyone?

Lockwell gave Roman a smile. “I knew you’d be on board with it,” he said. “Knew that you both would. You two understand that these things aren’t like us. They don’t have any other motive than to kill, no other thought than what their next meal will be. We have to do this-” he motioned to the muzzle “-To ensure the safety of everyone from these monsters. Nothing is less humane than those who take other’s lives as a way to keep living.”

Roman had a feeling he could think of something more inhumane, though he couldn’t figure out if it was the man in front of him or the man he saw in the mirror.

Over the next couple hours, the only time alone that Roman and Virgil managed to get was when they were preparing to leave for their hunt, and even that was unsettling. To be packing up equipment and weapons and planning to drive off and hunt vampires  _ while  _ talking about the two vampires living with Roman was very… concerning.

It wasn’t until Roman and Virgil were finally alone in the agency’s locker room—all other agents either out on their own hunts or in other parts of the building—that Virgil turned to him and, throwing his hands up, said, “We’re fucked. We’re  _ so _ fucked.”

“No we’re not, don’t say that,” Roman said, believing that maybe he could bullshit something believable. “We’re… we’re…” He sighed, giving up. “Yeah, we’re so totally fucked.”

Virgil let out a dry, humorless laugh as he swung his locker open. “Fun being a pessimist, isn’t it? I personally prefer to think of it as being a realist but, you know, tomato to-mah-to.”

“I will forever appreciate your witty quips in times of stress, Virgil,” Roman said, leaning against the row. “I don’t think there could be anything else that could get me through the day.”

“Happy to help.”

“But maybe… maybe we’re not fucked,” Roman attempted again, rather unconvincingly. “Maybe, if we catch D.C. first, this whole thing will blow over. Lockwell will be so amazed with us being fabulous hunters and catching the vampire that kills humans and not woodland creatures that he’ll completely forget about the others.”

“He already believes there’s another one out there, which there is,” Virgil said. “Wait until he finds out there’s three. All connected, all within city borders.”

“Two living with me.” Roman huffed and leaned his head back, staring up at the flickering lights. “So you don’t think he’ll forget everything after we catch D.C.?”

“ _ If _ we catch D.C.,” Virgil corrected. “And yes. I think he’ll keep this case going until, I don’t know, mosquitoes are extinct or something.”

“One, don’t even give him the idea. You’ll probably make him think that vampirism is some transferable disease through mosquito bites,” Roman said. “Second, you don’t think we’ll catch him?”

“I’m saying that I don’t know if we will or not,” Virgil said as he started shoving his equipment into his backpack. “There’s been no signs of D.C. for weeks now. He probably disappeared when he thought Patton and Logan were dead. He doesn’t even seem to be after you.” He sighed. “I have a feeling that the agency is more likely to stumble upon Patton and Logan than we are with D.C.”

“So, basically, what you’re saying is that we’re leading Logan and Patton to their doom,” Roman said, leaning his head against the window.

“I’m saying that we’re doing what we can,” Virgil said. “But we can’t stop the agency from putting together clues that are getting harder to cover up.”

Roman frowned. “I don’t want to put him in danger,” he said. He then quickly corrected himself with, “I mean, I don’t want Patton to be in danger, too, that’s not what I’m saying, I-”

“I get it, Ro,” Virgil said, his voice soft. “Even before you and Logan were a thing, it was obvious that you cared for him.”

“I told him I would protect him,” Roman muttered, finally swinging open his own locker to grab his belongings. “I told him that I’d protect the both of them. I feel like I’m just lying to them. That I’m just prolonging the inevitable.”

“Hey, stop that,” Virgil said. “I’m helping you with this, too, alright? It’s not like you’re giving anything away. You’re keeping them as safe as you can, and I’m here to help you out.”

Roman sighed and dragged a hand through his hair. “I just… I want to believe you, Virge. I want to believe that we’re keeping them safe while also keeping the people of our city safe, but… our job is already hard enough and I feel like I’ve just made it even worse. Do we even really know what we’re dealing with?”

Virgil huffed and shrugged. “Listen, Ro, I know this is extremely hypocritical coming from me but… try not to stress out so much, okay? Like, yeah, okay, shit’s going down and we might be losing control-”

“Not helping,” Roman deadpanned.

“Well, yeah, if you’d let me finish,” Virgil said, sliding Roman a weak glare. “I’d tell you that you and I are doing what we can and Patton and Logan know what we’re risking. They’ve proven themselves to not be dumbasses. Besides, they want to see D.C. gone just as much as everyone else. If we don’t really know what we’re dealing with, they do.”

“Okay,” Roman muttered, disbelieving.

“At least listen to that, alright?” Virgil said. “Might be shit to hear it, or it might just be shit advice, I’m honestly as freaked out as your are. But it seems that one of us has to be the reasonable one.”

“It’s fine advice,” Roman said. “I’m just…”

“Nervous, anxious, paranoid, et cetera, et cetera,” Virgil filled in for him and Roman managed out a laugh.

“All of the above,” he said. “But, you know what, you’re right. We’re doing the best we could and-” he broke off with a sigh and a shrug “-And that’s the best we can do, right?”

“Look at you, back with your optimism,” Virgil said, the ghost of a smile on his lips.

“Well, someone’s got to be,” Roman said. “It’s why we make a perfect team. You’re our resident edgelord and the reasonable one. I’m the idealistic optimist.”

“So self aware,” Virgil said with a laugh. “Now, come on, let’s go. We have to drive downtown and I don’t want to have to deal with the evening traffic. Try not to get kidnapped this time around.”

“There’s always traffic,” Roman said. The two finished gathering their belongings and changing into their gear and walked back up into the lobby of the agency. Walking out the front doors to head over to the parking garage, the main street was already filled with people. Roman assumed that the civilians of their city finally stopped worrying about becoming a vampire’s next meal because, as the weeks of silence from D.C. progressed, more people were starting to go out after sunset. Couples hand-in-hand crossed the street, barely paying mind to the cars around them and, up ahead, at the corner right past the agency, a person in all black turned the corner as a family hustled their children into a restaurant.

“Seems like you’re gonna be dealing with traffic, Virge.”

“Thanks for the observation, Ro.”

\--

It was half past midnight when Virgil finally pulled up to the curb outside Roman’s apartment. Their hunt had taken longer than either of them expected it to, considering that Lockwell had ordered them to scope out the forest outside the city to check for any other drained corpses. Even with walking through the forest at sunset, and then searching through downtown, and then going  _ back _ to the forest to walk around with flashlights yet still managing to trip over roots, their hunt still came up fruitless. Whatever Lockwell thought they’d find—perhaps a note tacked onto a tree saying, _ Hey! We’re your vampires! Come to Roman’s apartment! _ —wasn’t there and, instead, Roman was ready to sleep for ten years.

“Another riveting night in the books,” Virgil said dryly as he parked the car.

“Maybe tomorrow we’ll get to watch paint dry as we contemplate our moral alignment,” Roman said, grabbing his bag from the floor. “It’ll probably be just as interesting and existential as this was.”

“We can only hope,” Virgil huffed out a laugh. “Now, get out of my car. Your boyfriend is probably missing you terribly.” He winked and Roman rolled his eyes with a scoff.

“And you don’t want to come and say hello to Patton?”

“And you don’t want to fuck off?”

Roman laughed. “Very eloquent, Virgil,” he said. “I’m wounded severely. But fine, fine, I’ll leave you alone and go hang out with my undead boyfriend.”

Both Roman and Virgil pulled a face.

“It’s a lot less romantic when you say it like that, Ro.”

“Yeah, I’ve realized.” Roman smiled with a shrug. “But, anyways, I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”

“As always,” Virgil said as Roman opened the passenger door.

“Text me when you get home,” Roman said, getting out of the car.

“You know I will.”

Roman shut the car door and walked up to the door of his complex. Turning over his shoulder, he gave Virgil one final wave—who, in return, gave his typical two-finger salute—before walking into the building.

When he unlocked the door to his apartment and walked in, he found Logan sat on the couch, his elbow resting on the arm and his head resting lazily on his hand. Though, when he realized Roman had entered, his red eyes flicked to him and he smiled. “Welcome back.”

“Hi,” Roman said, probably sounding pathetically tired, and dropped his bag onto the floor. In the next couple steps, he was flopped down on the couch next to Logan, his head resting on the other’s shoulder.

Logan chuckled. “Long day?”

“Extremely,” Roman sighed, not planning on expanding more. He wouldn’t want to subject Logan to everything that was going on at work, wouldn’t want to stress him out. “Where’s Patton?”

“He’s out hunting now,” Logan said. “He figured he’d get it done with now than in the morning, though I told him to wait. Still, though, you know Patton.”

“Well, just tell him to dispose of any corpses—preferably not human, of course—properly.”

Roman could hear the confusion in Logan’s voice with his next words, “Pardon?”

Roman decided he was expanding more.

“This morning, a guy called in that he found a bunch of animals, all drained of blood, in the forest,” Roman explained. “This, of course, sent my boss into some kind of frenzy because now he knew that our case wasn’t cold and that vampires were still here.” He sighed. “It instantly made the day very… hectic.”

At Logan’s silence, Roman looked up at him to find Logan staring ahead with furrowed eyebrows. “Strange,” he finally said. “I was sure that we handled that properly.”

“Well, it’s fine, just-” Roman started. “Okay, well, maybe it’s not fine, because now things are… happening at the agency and-” He thought of the muzzle Lockwell showed them and winced, that same sickening feeling washing over him again “-And, I mean, not that he knows exactly what’s going on, but still, things are happening and- and-”

“Roman,” Logan interjected and Roman snapped his mouth shut. “What’s going on? You seem… overwhelmed.”

“I-” Roman broke off and dragged a hand through his hair “-You know what we’re both risking, right? I mean, you’re a vampire and I’m literally stationed to hunt vampires! That’s my job, Logan! And- and my agency keeps getting closer and I can’t stop it because that’d look really suspicious and… and…” He trailed off. He looked away, worrying his bottom lip. Logan waited patiently, more than what Roman probably deserved. “And I don’t know what to do,” he finally finished, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Roman,” Logan said, his voice gentle. “Do you… regret this? Regret what we are?”

Roman’s eyes widened and he snapped his head back towards Logan. “No! No, not at all!” He exclaimed, grabbing Logan’s hands in his. “I just-” He cleared his throat and lowered his voice, “I’m… I’m scared, Logan. I’m scared that I’m going to end up hurting you”

Logan’s gaze softened and he gave Roman a small smile. “You’d think  _ I’d _ be the one saying this to you,” he said.

Roman frowned. “I’m being serious.”

“As am I,” Logan said and slipped his hands from Roman’s to cup Roman’s face. “Roman, you’re not going to hurt me.”

“You don’t know that,” Roman murmured.

“Honestly, no, I don’t,” Logan said. “But, just as you can hurt me, I can hurt you. This is not a relationship where one of us is flawless. Nothing is like that, but-” he moved his hands to Roman’s, gently squeezing them “-I trust you, Roman. I know what your job requires, just as you know what I am. I trust you to not hurt me.”

“Why do you trust me so much?” Roman whispered. “You’ve said it yourself, you shouldn’t.”

“Perhaps I meant that weeks ago,” Logan said. “But, at the time, I had only known you for a short while. I had no reason to trust you other than the fact that you opened your door for me. But now?” He gave a small smile. “You’re my partner, though I believe the more colloquial term is ‘boyfriend’. Not only that, however, but you’re my friend, Roman, one of my best. You have let me into your life and showed me that you see me as more than just a monster from horror stories. Of course I trust you.”

Roman worried his bottom lip and swallowed the sudden lump in his throat. Whether or not Roman believed it, whether or not he thought he truly deserved Logan’s trust, he couldn’t help but be overcome by Logan’s words. “I’m scared,” he repeated, keeping his eyes trained on the space of the couch in between them. 

“I know, Roman, but you’re okay.”

“I’m scared of what I’m becoming. I’m… I’m keeping so many secrets and I’m lying and that  _ scares _ me, Logan! Lockwell thinks that I’m better than I actually am and he thinks that I’m on board with this endless hunting and fighting. And, no matter how much Virgil and I try to deflect him away, Lockwell keeps getting these ideas that are closer to the truth and I want to protect you! I want you to be safe and I want to be the one to keep you safe because you—you  _ and _ Patton—deserve this safety and deserve to be okay but-”

“Roman,” Logan cut in, his voice gentle. “Can you look at me?”

Roman, after a moment’s hesitation, looked up to Logan. Logan wore a concerned expression and he ran his thumbs over the top of Roman’s hand. “Would it be easier for you if Patton and myself left?”

“ _ No!  _ No, no, that-” Roman began to rush out, unable to stop the panic from filling his voice.

“Not leave you,” Logan quickly interjected. “We would still see you and let you know how we are, but I don’t want you to be keeping us here if you’re this stressed.”

Roman shook his head. “I… I need you both here,” he murmured. “I… call it selfish, I guess, but even looking past your own safety?” He worried his bottom lip. “I… I really like having you two here.”

“Then we’ll stay,” Logan agreed. He leaned his forehead against Roman’s. “Roman, I know you can do this, okay? I understand that you’re stressed and upset, but it’s going to be okay. Worry about taking care of yourself, because Patton and I have managed for centuries, and we can continue to do so.” He paused and sighed. “It… it pains me to see you this distraught.”

“I’m sorry,” Roman said, shaking his head. “I shouldn’t be throwing all of this at you. I mean, it’s kinda fucked up, isn’t it? I’m a hunter, venting to you, a vampire, about how much hunting vampires sucks.”

“No, you’re venting about the state of your career and how you’re feeling,” Logan corrected. “Nothing about that is wrong. You’re allowed to feel what you do and you’re allowed to be stressed. I understand that I, despite unintentionally, am a cause of your stress. Just know that, despite our circumstances, I care for you quite a lot, Roman, and no matter what happens, I’m not going to leave you alone in this.”

Roman’s bottom lip wobbled and he rested his head in the crook of Logan’s neck. He drew in a deep, shaky breath. “Don’t say that,” he mumbled. “You’re not causing any of this.” He gave a watery laugh and squeezed his eyes shut tight, forcing any tears to stay back. “If anything, you’re keeping me grounded.” He paused. “Thank you,” he whispered. “For staying and trusting me and… being here.”

He felt Logan press a kiss to his head. “Of course,” he said.

“I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing. There’s no reason to.”

So Roman stayed silent and stayed tucked up against Logan, savoring the feeling of being held and being able to breathe easily. Their hands stayed intertwined for however long they sat together—Roman began to stop paying attention to the clock—with Logan occasionally running his thumb over Roman’s hand.

It wasn’t until Roman heard his front door opening that he pulled away from Logan.

“You know, you should really lock your door, Ro, for safety and all,” Patton said and, as he closed the door, his eyes fell onto Roman and Logan. “Oh, cute!”

“Hey Patton,” Roman said as Logan rolled his eyes at his friend’s exclamation.

“How are you doing, Roman?” Patton beamed, letting the door shut behind him. “How was work? Is everything going well?

“Could be better,” Roman said, starting to tick off the questions in his mind. “Work was work and that means stressful, and everything is, well, going.”

“Oh,” Patton said, frowning as Roman shifted on the couch, leaning against the arm across from Logan. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Roman said, perhaps a bit more truthful than previously. He then eyed Logan warily, choosing his next words carefully, before continuing, “You two just have to be… more careful when hunting. Some guy called in that he found a bunch of animals this morning in the woods, all obviously killed by vampires.”

Patton furrowed his eyebrows, looking to Logan in confusion, who only shrugged. “You sure it was this morning?”

Roman nodded. “Positive.”

Patton and Logan kept their eyes on each other for a moment longer, which seemed to last a lifetime, before Patton nodded. “Guess we’ll have to be more careful next time,” he said, giving Roman an apologetic smile. “Sorry, Roman.”

“It’s okay,” Roman said, less for honesty and more because he didn’t feel like having the same breakdown with Patton that he just had with Logan. “Virgil and I are keeping everything in check.”

“Oh! Speaking of, how is Virgil?”

“He’s-” Roman faltered and suddenly felt his phone burning a hole in his jeans pocket.

_ Text me when you get home. _

_ You know I will. _

Roman scrambled for his phone, his brain forgetting which pocket it was in and only relaxing, albeit slightly, when his fist finally closed around it.

However, perhaps allowing himself to calm down allowed himself to fall for a false sense of security because his mind just went back into overdrive when he saw that he had no messages.

It was fine. Virgil was a busy person, kind of. He probably drove home and immediately passed out on his couch or jumped in the shower and decided to treat himself to a—Roman’s eyes flicked to the clock—a twenty-five minute shower. He was probably sleeping or showering or on his laptop with a plan to stay up to ungodly hours of the night.

It was fine, right?

“H-He’s fine,” Roman stumbled out, unconvincingly.

Roman didn’t even pay attention long enough to notice if Patton replied to him or not.

**[12:56, Roman] Dude, you home?**

**[12:59, Roman] Come on, V**

**[1:03, Roman] Virgil don’t bullshit me I know you always have your phone on you**

**[1:03, Roman] And in the 7 years I’ve known you, I know you don’t sleep before 3am**

When the clock finally struck one-oh-five, Roman decided the last thing he wanted to do was continue waiting.

From the time Roman stood up from his couch to when he burst out the door of his apartment complex, he think the only comprehensible phrase he managed out was, “I have to go. Stay here.” He had registered Logan and Patton calling after him, asking where he was going, and he believed he shouted back for them to not follow him, though he couldn’t be sure.

When his feet his the pavement outside and he started running, hearing no footsteps following him, he had a feeling that they both got the message.

As Roman sprinted down the city streets, his legs carrying him faster than he thought they could, his panicked lungs gulping for air, Roman decided he was going to kill Virgil when he found him. When Roman would find him getting out of the shower—towel drying his hair—or passed out on his couch, he would yell until his voice was hoarse about how Virgil scared the shit out of Roman; how Virgil made Roman imagine a thousand scenarios a minute about how Virgil never made it home. He would shout and he would be angry because  _ holy shit, Virgil, you can’t do this to me, you can’t make me think that I lost you _ and then they would be okay and Roman would call his apartment and tell Logan and Patton that everything was fine, he was just going to spend the night at Virgil’s. And then they would stay up and watch a movie and go to work tomorrow and hope that everything would fall together simply like pieces in a puzzle and-

And as Roman sprinted across a side street two streets away from Virgil’s apartment, he saw headlights coming at him from the corner of his eye. Yelping, he practically dived onto the sidewalk to avoid being crashed into. When he hit the pavement, however, he realized that the car wasn’t moving but was, instead, parked idly, the ignition still roaring to life. He slowly pushed himself up, wincing at the burning pain the scrapes on his forearms and hands sent through him. Standing up on his feet, he approached the car and saw the sticker on the windshield signifying that the car was property of the agency. There were tire marks on the road and Roman assumed that the car hadn’t so much pulled to a stop but skidded, as if something threw it off its path.

He swallowed thickly as he reached the open driver’s side door.

A backpack sat discarded on the passenger seat. Some of the contents had spilled out of it, one of which being an ID tag that read  _ Virgil Winter _ on the top.

Roman forced out a laugh that sounded too choked to be humorous.

“Come on, Virgil, this isn’t fucking funny,” Roman said. He kept his tone casual despite it feeling as if his heart was wedging itself in his throat. He leaned into the car and peered into the back seats, as if Virgil would be sleeping back there or perhaps hooking up with a hot date.

The seats were empty.

“You know, Virge, I always told you to stop skipping songs on Spotify while driving,” Roman called out into the night air, stepping away from the car to stare down the rest of the street. “I know what you’d say right now if you were here,  _ Oh, Roman, no one else is on the road, it doesn’t matter, _ but yes it does, Virgil! You go to skip a—I don’t fucking know—a My Chemical Romance song only to go to another My Chemical Romance song, and then all of a sudden your car is skidding to the other side of the road!” His breathing hitched and Roman gripped at his hair, looking back to the main road. “And of course you’d be the dumbass to leave the car running and go off somewhere! What are you- what are you looking for?” Another forced, choked laugh. “A place where you’ll have service to post on your blog about the time you totally-” Roman’s voice faltered and quieted, losing whatever facade he was trying to keep up, “-totally almost died?”

Roman checked his phone again.

He had no new messages.

Roman’s fingers were dialing Virgil’s number before he even had time to properly think about it.

“I’m gonna be so mad at you when you pick up and you’re asleep in your bed,” Roman said as the other line rang. “I’m gonna be so fucking pissed at you when you decided to take a fucking lovely middle of the night stroll and leave this fucking car parked here and I’m gonna be so angry when-”

The line picked up.

“Well isn’t this nice.”

It wasn’t Virgil’s voice.

“I was wondering when I’d get to hear that lovely voice of yours again,” D.C. drawled. “It’s been  _ so long _ since we last saw each other, Roman.”

Roman almost dropped his phone.

“What are you- what are you doing with Virgil’s phone?” Roman was unable to keep his voice from rising. He felt as if the ground was about to give out from underneath him, or maybe that was because his legs wouldn’t stop shaking.

“Well, if we’re asking questions, I believe mine deserve to be answered first,” D.C. said. He sounded so casual, as if this was a regular conversation, and Roman wanted nothing more than to reach through the phone and rip his vocal chords out. “What are you doing with Patton and Logan in your apartment?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

D.C. tsked. “Oh, but Roman, you can’t lie to me,” he said. “You’re the third floor, yes? The apartment facing fifty-seventh street?” Roman swallowed thickly. He was right. “I do have to commend you for staying under the radar for so long. I almost stopped caring about you.” He sighed on the other end. “But then I realized that you fooled me. Not only that, but it seemed that you had fooled your precious city into believing that all was well.” He paused. “Of course I had to put an end to that.”

Roman’s mind racked through everything it could land upon, anything that could point him into the direction of figuring out when and where D.C. had come back.

_ The animals in the forest. _

“It was you,” Roman breathed out. No wonder Logan and Patton were confused about Roman’s accusations; it wasn’t them. “The animals- this morning-”

“So smart,” D.C. said. “If only that intelligence had come quicker.”

“No, please!” Roman begged, nearly crushing the phone in his hands. “Don’t do anything to Virgil! What- what do you want? Anything, please!”

“Such a tough decision,” D.C. mused. He hummed in mock consideration. “You know, I think I’m okay with having a new play thing.”

“You won’t get away with this!”

“Oh, I won’t?” D.C. questioned. “I think you’ll realize I already have.”

The line went dead.

Roman released a cry of frustration that would have sounded a lot like  _ No! _ if there was anyone there to actually hear him.

“Shit, fuck, holy fucking fuck, shit,” Roman stumbled out, falling into a state of constantly redialing the number only to not even be able to reach Virgil’s answering machine anymore.

D.C. knew that Patton and Logan were alive. D.C. had been watching all of them and they hadn’t even realized it. D.C. had set them up to make it look like Logan and Patton—two vampires not even discovered by the agency yet—were the vampires they needed to worry about.

D.C. had Virgil.

Roman didn’t even know if Virgil was alive.

Something that sounded like a cross between a shout and a sob escaped Roman’s mouth. He sucked in a breath that felt like it was dragging shards of glass down Roman’s throat as it went down into his lungs.

His fingers fumbled to dial a new number and he rushed out a quick, frantic, “Pick up, pick up, pick up,” as the line rang.

“Prince, it’s past one in the morning,” Lockwell finally answered just when Roman was about to have a mental breakdown. “Why are you-”

“It has Virgil.”

\--

The agency was booming as if it was the middle of the day. Every agent they had—no matter the case they were on, no matter the rank—was called in to search the streets, look through the research and files they collected, to do anything.

And yet Roman was forced to sit in the conference room alone, his only companion being his thoughts spiralling into worse and worse scenarios, as Lockwell spoke outside with the other higher-ups of the agency. It wasn’t even like Roman could escape and run out to join the hunt; the conference room door was locked from the outside.

Roman tapped his fingers erratically against the tabletop, trying to keep his breathing from hitching in his throat but, no matter how hard he tried, every time air reached his lungs, it sent a burning pain through his body and behind his eyes.

Roman furiously rubbed at his eyes with bandaged hands. Upon Lockwell and practically every other person in the agency seeing Roman’s cut up hands and arms, they had assumed that he’d been attacked. That, of course, led to Roman nearly having a breakdown explaining that, no, he wasn’t attacked because there was no one there to attack him. It was just him and an empty, running car.

Roman believed he should be out there with all the other agents. He shouldn’t be sitting in this conference room, waiting to hear from one of the agents as to whether or not they found his best friend’s drained corpse on the side of a-

Roman sucked in a breath that sounded too close to a sob, or maybe a dry heave, and he clasped his hands to his mouth, attempting to waver both the hysteria and the nausea settling in him.

_ Roman. _

Roman jumped as he heard his name being called. He warily eyed around the room before turning to look over his shoulder. No one else was in the room with him; he couldn’t even hear the voices talking out in the hall.

_ Roman. _

Roman jumped again, spinning forward to stare ahead of him. Still alone, still hearing someone call to him.

_ Roman, it’s Logan. I need to know if I reached you. Think something, anything. _

Roman’s eyes widened at realizing that Logan was currently in his head.

_ Logan, can you hear me? _ Roman thought and was met with moments of silence. He almost started to panic, thinking that he couldn’t reach Logan and that Logan and Patton were going to head onto the street and be staked to death, when Logan’s voice finally trailed back into his mind.

_ Roman, what’s going on? Where are you? _

Roman bit his bottom lip.  _ Promise me you won’t leave my apartment. _

_ Roman, what is happening right now? _

_ Promise me, Logan. I won’t tell you if you don’t. _

There was another pause. Roman had to force himself to follow one of the breathing exercises Virgil had once showed him to stop himself from falling into a panic that Logan was leaving his apartment right now.

_ We both promise. _

Roman nodded as if Logan could see him.  _ I’m at the agency.  _ He took a deep breath.  _ D.C. got Virgil. _

_ What?  _ Logan’s voice boomed loud enough through Roman’s head that he actually flinched.  _ Roman, we’re coming- _

_ No! _ Roman thought at what he assumed was the loudest he could.  _ You can’t. There are agents everywhere tracking the street. If they catch either of you two, they _ **_will_ ** _ kill you. _

_ But we can- _

_ Don’t you fucking dare leave my apartment or I’m not letting you two back in.  _ Threatening Logan made Roman’s throat feel tighter than it already did, but he couldn’t even fathom thinking about Logan and Patton out on the street when he didn’t even know where Virgil was. His fingers fumbled as he waited for Logan to reply, blinking rapidly to clear his eyes of any tears that wished to fall.

_ Okay, we won’t leave. _

_ Thank you, _ Roman thought. He then remembered that Logan’s telepathy, while able to reach people subconsciously, required consent to be kept. And, right now, Roman didn’t think he could handle hearing Logan’s voice in his head, asking question after question on things Roman himself couldn’t answer.  _ And I’m sorry. _

Roman blocked off his mind.

He then dropped his head so his chin was resting against his chest. He forced himself to take steadying breaths that did nothing to quell the rising fear in him. His hands trembled as they clenched his thighs, digging in as if their constant shaking would cease with force.

His head whipped over to look at the door when he finally heard the lock click. He watched as Lockwell entered, a crease pressed in between his eyebrows, his fists clenched in his side.

“I should be out there,” Roman whispered.

Lockwell shook his head and closed the door behind him. He flicked on the lock again and the click rang like a gunshot. He then sat with Roman, for once not across from him but next to him.

“You know we can’t let you out there,” Lockwell said, his voice surprisingly quiet. “We have a large amount of agents already out there, Thomas and Talyn leading the case currently. We can’t send you out there, too.”

“But why!” Roman exclaimed, slamming his hands on the table. “I was there! I found the car! I- I can help them figure out where to look and-”

“No, Roman, you have to stay here,” Lockwell continued. “I understand that you feel the need to go out there and-”

“Feel the need?” Roman bit. “This- this isn’t some want or desire! This is- this is my  _ job _ and Virgil is out there and- and we don’t even know if he’s fucking  _ alive  _ but he’s out there and no one knows where to look but I could help figure out where and-”

“We can’t lose you, too, Roman!” Lockwell exclaimed, his voice stern and suddenly filling every corner of the room. “This thing has already attacked you and now it has Virgil. We can’t afford… we can’t risk to lose you as well. This thing already knew who both of you were. You were both a target, and Virgil…” He trailed off and Roman felt the familiar burning behind his eyes. Lockwell shook his head and sighed. “It would be a risk sending you out there in the first place. But with the state you’re in right now, in good conscience, I cannot send you out.”

Roman dropped his head into his hands with a pathetic whimper and dug the heels of his hands into his eyes. “Virgil’s my best friend,” he whispered. “I can’t…”

“We’re going to do everything we can, Roman,” Lockwell said.

“I should’ve done something,” Roman said. “When he attacked me. I shouldn’t have frozen up, I should have…” He trailed off and worried his bottom lip, taking a ragged breath.

“You didn’t know what you were dealing with at the time,” Lockwell said. “That is not something you can blame yourself for.”

Roman still blamed himself, though he didn’t voice it.

The worst part of all of this, though, was the standstill they were all at. Even if Roman was to come clean right this second, was to tell Lockwell everything he knew about D.C. and Logan and Patton, it wouldn’t change anything. Roman always wondered when everything he just “happened” to know about vampires would seem suspicious, would seem like too much information for one agent to know; now, though, he found that the information was never enough. With everything he knew about D.C., and with everything Logan and Patton knew, it wasn’t enough to point them to where D.C. would’ve taken Virgil. It wasn’t enough to point to what he might be doing to Virgil besides killing him.

With all the ways Roman thought to use what Logan and Patton told him, he never thought it would have to apply—and be unable to apply—to finding his best friend.

“When the agents start coming back,” Lockwell continued. “I’m going to have one of them take you home, alright?” Roman nodded. “We’re in a Code Red right now. Every agent is following very specific and very surveyed routes.”

_ They should have always been surveyed, _ Roman thought but didn’t say.

“Okay,” Roman whispered.

It wasn’t for another hour, the clock now saying it was past two in the morning, until Thomas and Talyn returned and it was decided that they—along with Joan, who had been called in in case Roman had been attacked and poisoned—would be the ones to take Roman back to his apartment.

Roman was meeting them outside of the agency where Thomas had already pulled his car out and around from the parking garage. He kept his head low as he walked through the lobby, feeling people’s eyes constantly glance to and away from him. He swallowed thickly and, when he walked out into the hot summer air, he felt as if he was being suffocated.

Thomas was already in the driver’s seat with Joan and Talyn waiting outside the car.

“Hey,” Talyn said weakly and Roman, too tired to speak, gave them a nod in response.

Joan opened the passenger door for Roman and he wordlessly slid in. No one else spoke as Joan and Talyn climbed into the back seats, though Roman didn’t miss the worried glance Thomas sent him before beginning the short drive to Roman’s apartment.

“Thanks for going out there,” Roman finally whispered to Thomas and Talyn. Then, his eyes flicked to Joan in the rearview mirror. “And thanks for coming to the agency.”

“Always, Roman,” Thomas said softly. “Besides being your agents, we’re your friends. We’d be here in a heartbeat.”

Roman felt like one more brick in his quickly crumbling walls was dislodged. “Thanks,” he repeated.

“We’re not giving up,” Talyn said, leaning forward so that they were resting on the console.

“Neither am I,” Roman said, staring out the window. At this time of night, the street was practically pitch black. Nothing except the void looked back to Roman.

The rest of the drive was silent, none of them knowing what to say. Everything felt inappropriate, misplaced. 

Roman didn’t know if he preferred the silence or if he would have rathered for someone to just talk and talk until Roman couldn’t think of anything but someone else’s endless words.

When Thomas finally pulled up to his apartment, Roman stared up at it. All the lights were off, but he knew that Logan and Patton were waiting.

“Are you going to be okay by yourself?” Joan asked quietly from the back and Roman nodded.

“I’ll be fine,” Roman said. It was a lie but Roman had become fairly good at lying.

“You have all of our numbers if you need anything,” Thomas said, his voice soft.

Roman nodded. “Thanks.” He then pushed open the passenger door and stepped out. Giving a weak wave to the three remaining in the car, Roman slammed the door shut and turned, walking into his apartment building.

His door was unlocked, just as he left it hours ago, and he weakly pushed it open. Each small movement felt like it was taking all of Roman’s energy and he wanted nothing more than to just fall onto the floor and sleep until he realized that this was all a nightmare.

Still, though, he would never get that. What was happening was real and inescapable and Roman couldn’t help but feel as if he walked everyone into this situation.

Before his apartment door was even closed, Logan and Patton were in front of him. Even in the darkness, he could see their concerned expressions perfectly.

Well, Roman only assumed that about Logan because Logan wasn’t the one he was looking at.

His eyes fell upon Patton—Patton, whose blue eyes bled emotion and who said, “Kiddo,” in perhaps the softest voice Roman had ever heard—and something inside of him broke. Whatever grief and guilt inside of him twisted and turned until it was corrupted into a cold, heavy block of anger; at that moment, it didn’t matter to Roman whether or not the anger was directed at himself. All Roman knew was that Patton was in front of him—Patton, who created D.C., Patton, who made D.C. angry—and Roman was cracking.

“Why’d you do it?” The coldness Roman heard in his own voice shocked him.

Logan’s eyes flicked to him but Patton knew exactly what he was talking about.

“Roman,” Patton said quietly, his voice pitying and eyes sad.

“Why did you have to do it?” Roman asked again, louder this time. He couldn’t bother to keep his volume low and anger bubbled in his chest. “Why did you have to turn him? What- what kind of thought was that? What person in their right fucking mind wants this type of lifestyle?” Roman dragged a hand through his hair, unable to control his breathing as it grew more and more erratic.

“Roman, kiddo-”

“No!” Roman shouted, closing the gap between him and Patton. Logan took a step forward, ready to step in between them, but Patton held a hand out to stop him. “Why did you have to do that, Patton? Why did you have to be- be so  _ selfish? _ You could’ve just dealt with Logan but instead you had to turn him!”

“Kiddo-”

“Why couldn’t you have stopped him? You kept letting him get farther and farther away and now he’s fucking here and I- I can’t do anything because _ you  _ let him get like this! Why couldn’t you have just let him be?”

“Roman,” Patton repeated, reaching a hand out to Roman and, before Roman could even process what he was doing, he shoved Patton back.

“Say something else!” Roman didn’t realize he was crying until he felt the hot tears streaming down his face and his words choked off into a sob. “Defend yourself! Fight back! Do  _ something! _ Now Virgil’s with him and who knows what’s going to happen to him and-” Roman’s words broke off into another sob and he clasped his hands to his mouth. He shook his head rapidly, tears blurring his vision as the anger—anger which he knew was being wrongly deflected—melted back into grief. Sobs racked Roman’s body and his lungs felt as if they were about to collapse with each shuddering breath. “-And Virgil’s gone.”

Patton wordlessly held his hands back out to Roman and, this time, instead of shoving him again or taking Patton’s hands in his own, Roman threw himself at Patton and buried his face in the crook of his neck. Patton instantly, naturally, wrapped his arms around Roman and Roman finally let his walls crumble to the ground. He sobbed into Patton’s neck, tears dripping at a rapid rate down onto his shirt. Everything inside Roman hurt and his heart felt heavy; he knew his anger was misplaced at Patton. He knew that not only had Patton and Logan been doing everything they could to stop D.C., but that Patton had carried this guilt as well.

Roman just didn’t know how he’d be able to survive with this weight in his chest, with this sick feeling in his stomach. D.C. had been following them all along and now D.C. had one of the people that mattered most in Roman’s life.

And Roman hadn’t even been able to put a stop to him, let alone discover what was going on.

“I’m sorry,” Roman sobbed, clenching Patton’s shirt in his fists. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay, Roman, you’re okay,” Patton murmured to him. He gently ran a soothing hand up and down Roman’s back and Roman held him tighter, wanting nothing more than to melt into the embrace. He felt something be draped around him and it only took him a moment to realize that Logan had wrapped a blanket around him. “I’m sorry, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ethospathoslogan.tumblr.com


	9. chapter nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman had said that this wasn’t a mission for a martyr. He should have known then that that was a lie. There was always a martyr.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was, without a doubt, i think my favorite one to right even tho it made me want to rip my hair out half the time
> 
> also this is 14,652 words because there isn't an appropriate place to split this that won't leave you all with an annoying cliffhanger, so have fun!!!
> 
> warnings: self-deprecation, character death, violence, slight gore, slight sexual undertones, curses
> 
> i also reference the first chapter at one point, but it's very "blink and you'll miss it"

Roman had spent the remainder of the night and early morning staring up at his ceiling, though he wasn’t surprised that he was unable to fall asleep. The crying had left him with a headache, the thought of Virgil being gone left him feeling too sick to relax, and the side-effects of yelling at Patton consisted of guilt and sadness.

Roman knew it wasn’t Patton’s fault. If this happened over a hundred years ago, when Patton himself didn’t know the potential D.C. had, then perhaps it would have made more sense for Roman to lash out. Over a hundred years ago, Patton’s choice would have looked foolish.

Now, though, after Patton and Logan have spent over a century trying to stop D.C.? Over a century of cycling through following D.C. and being followed by D.C.? Patton knew everything he could and it wasn’t like he hadn’t been trying to help Roman in every way he could. D.C. just, once again, was ten miles ahead of them, and Roman, angry at his own incompetence, lashed out at a man who already said the same thing to himself.

In short, Roman felt really shitty for a lot of reasons.

The pale light of early morning—his bedside clock reading just before six-A.M.—shone through the blinds of his bedroom window. Birds had began to sing their song and Roman figured that, even if he did wish to sleep, he would be unable to now. He groaned slightly, throwing his arm over his blurry, burning eyes.

“I am assuming you did not sleep.”

Roman moved his arm and tilted his head to look at the man next to him. “You did, though.”

Logan sighed and rubbed at his eyes, shifting up onto his elbow. “Yes, I apologize for that,” he said. “You asked me to stay with you for the night and I ended up falling asleep, something which I don’t even require to function properly.”

“It’s fine,” Roman said. He gave Logan a tired smile, or at least something he hoped looked like a smile, and reached his hand out. Logan, without hesitation, took Roman’s hand and laced their fingers together. “Just because you don’t technically need sleep doesn’t mean it’s not beneficial to you.” He gave a shrug. “I’m glad at least one of us got sleep.”

Logan gave him a pitiful look and Roman averted his eyes to anything else in his bedroom. “Are you feeling alright?”

Roman sighed and shook his head, deciding upon honesty. “Not really,” he murmured.

Logan squeezed his hand. He didn’t say anything, for any words of comfort weren’t set in stone, but Roman still relished in his presence.

“And I’m assuming you’re going into work.”

Roman nodded and finally forced himself up into a sitting position. “You know me so well,” he said, rubbing his eyes. “I have to. I need to be there.”

“I understand,” Logan said with a sigh, sitting up next to him. “It’s just… distressing seeing you so distraught.”

“Well, this whole situation is distressing, so…” Roman trailed off and groaned. “God, I’m sorry, that was probably rude, I’m just-”

“You’re under a lot of stress, Roman, I understand,” Logan said. “You said nothing to offend me.”

Roman nodded and leaned over to press a kiss to Logan’s jaw. “Thank you,” he whispered, hoping Logan understood that it was for more than just staying with him for the night.

When Roman finally dragged himself out of his bedroom, Logan trailing behind him, they found Patton sitting at Roman’s kitchen table, his head resting on his hands. Roman and him eyed each other warily, as if nervous that either of them were going to brutally hurt the other. At least Roman was nervous about that, or maybe he was feeling Patton’s nerves because, with the rigidness of his shoulders, Roman could easily tell that Patton was on edge.

Either way, Roman was nervous. Nervous about Virgil (“nervous” being an understatement), nervous about Patton, nervous about everything.

Roman slowly sat down in the seat across from Patton. Logan, leaning on the counter, eyed the two of them.

A beat of silence.

Patton stared at the kitchen table. Logan stared at the both of them. Roman stared down at his hands.

Logan huffed out a sigh and both Patton and Roman’s heads whipped towards him. “I believe things will become less tense if you two actually talk.”

Roman and Patton turned to look at each other. Patton’s bright blue eyes were wide behind his glasses and Roman looked away again, finding Logan’s eyes instead.

Logan’s gaze softened on him.

 _I think it would be beneficial for you to talk to him,_ Logan’s voice ran throughout his mind. _He’s not angry with you._

Roman worried his bottom lip.

_He understands you’re grieving, Roman. He wants to help you._

_I’m scared to hurt more people. Virgil’s already-_ At the prickling behind his eyes, something much more than exhaustion, Roman cut that thought off. _I’ve hurt enough people already._

_Falsehood. That is why you should talk to him._

Roman looked back to Patton, who seemed very interested in the table and his cuticles and anything that didn’t require him to look up.

Roman hesitated and Logan waited for his response, mental or verbal. Finally, Roman thought, _Fine,_ and he glanced back at Logan to see him wearing a small smile.

“Patton,” Roman said softly and Patton’s eyes flew to him.

“Let me leave you two be,” Logan said, pushing himself off the counter. He headed to one of the windows, peering out of it. “This street is still empty, so I believe that I will at least be able to get through this block relatively unnoticed.”

“But hunters are going to be sent out soon,” Roman worried. “Lockwell called in some for an early morning shift and if they see you-”

“You forget that I have another form besides human, however cliche it is,” Logan continued. He opened up the window and the screen behind it, letting in a breeze of warm air. “To anyone who is up at this time and concerned with what’s in the sky, they will most likely just think I’m a bird.”

Before Roman could say anything else, Logan, suddenly veiled in a thin layer of smoke, flew as a bat out of it.

“Be careful,” Patton murmured, despite Logan already being out and up into the morning sky, though Roman had a feeling he wasn’t just telling Logan that verbally.

“You know, that’s the first time I’ve seen him do that,” Roman murmured. After another beat of silence, he turned from looking at the window to back at Patton. “Patton,” he sighed. “About last night.”

“Roman…”

“I’m so sorry.” Roman stared down at his trembling hands in his lap. He swallowed thickly and continued, “I shouldn’t have lashed out at you like that. You… what happened isn’t your fault. I was just under a lot of… stress but that doesn’t make me yelling at you any better and I- I shoved you, which was fucked up, and-”

“Roman,” Patton repeated. He reached a hand out across the table to Roman and he finally looked up. Patton was looking back at him with a sad smile and he flexed his fingers, waiting for Roman’s hand to fit in with it. Roman, hesitantly, took Patton’s hand. Immediately, he felt a surge of calmness rush into him; it wasn’t enough to sedate the aching in his chest, though Roman’s hands did stop their shaking.

“I’m not upset with you, Roman,” Patton said, the gentleness of his voice leaking into the air around them. “Everything you felt, your anger, your grief… it was all understandable. It’s-” Patton swallowed and squeezed Roman’s hand. “-It’s everything that I have felt before. You’re angry, you’re sad, and I could never— _would_ never—hold that against you.”

Patton, with his free hand, wiped at the corners of his eyes and Roman could see the shine of unshed tears on their rims. “I’m angry, too, kiddo,” Patton continued. “I… with what D.C. has become, I never wanted you and Virgil to get more involved than you already were. What is happening was only supposed to be between him and I. Honestly, I think even Logan was wrongly dragged in.” He released a shaky breath. “But you know what we’re gonna do?”

“What?” Roman asked.

“We’re going to fix this,” Patton said. “Don’t give up hope yet, Roman. I think… I really think we can do something about this. That we can find Virgil.”

“You think so?” Roman said, his voice suddenly quiet.

Patton nodded. “We already have a way to try to find him.”

It suddenly clicked in Roman’s brain. “We have Logan.”

Patton hummed in agreement. “And if that doesn’t work,” he said. “I won’t stop until we finally find him, okay?”

Roman was able to manage a small smile on his face. “Thank you, Patton,” he whispered, his words wavering.

“You’re welcome, Ro.”

“And I am sorry for what I said.”

“You’re okay, kiddo.”

\--

Roman knew that he was going to be kept inside while at work. From last night to this morning, there was no way Lockwell would have changed his viewpoint. Roman expected that. He expected to be kept doing research or desk work or even just sitting with Joan in the pharmacy as they both tried to distract each other; Distract Roman from the fact that his best friend was missing, Joan from the fact that their partner and best friend were currently looking for the vampire that took Roman’s best friend. Roman expected all of that.

He just wished people weren’t walking on eggshells around him. Yes, he still felt like he was one rough breeze away from crumbling yet again, but he hated how everyone else could see that. To go from being the head agent of the agency, a man people relied on, to someone who seemed to need coddling was… extremely unsettling.

Roman’s situation also wasn’t helped by the fact that the last conversation he had with Logan was when Logan slipped into Roman’s head to say, _We can’t get into contact with Virgil. I have another idea. We’ll talk about it when you get home._

Of course, Logan left it at that because Roman _obviously_ loves being left in suspense in times like this and-

“Roman?” Joan’s voice brought Roman out of his thoughts and Roman, sitting on one of the seats behind the counter with a leg tucked against his chest, look towards them. Joan, leaning against the counter, raised an eyebrow. “You okay?”

Roman sighed and shrugged. “As okay as I can be,” he said.

It was one of the few truths that Roman could actually tell.

\--

Early that evening, when Roman arrived back to his apartment, he felt as if he was interrupting a conversation that Logan and Patton had intended to be finished with before he got home. Walking in, he caught Logan sitting on the couch, looking to Roman with an arched eyebrow. Patton, mid pacing the living room, turned to Roman with an expression too shocked to make Roman feel calm.

“You’re home,” Patton said, as if he was surprised that Roman would come back. Roman nodded and Patton’s eyes flicked to the clock on the wall. “You’re early.”

“Yeah, well, they’re not sending me out to hunt,” Roman explained, slowly crossing the room with a wary eye on the two of them. He dropped his bag next to the couch and sat next to Logan on the opposite end of the couch. “What’s going on?”

“Well,” Logan started. “Since I could not come into contact with Virgil, we both realized that we had to move on to Plan B and-”

“ _This_ is Plan B?” Patton cut in, his eyebrows shooting to his hairline. “Wouldn’t this be maybe Plan X, Logan? Plan Y, if we can think of another?”

Roman nodded, turning to Logan. “You did say you had another idea.”

“It’s the next logical step, in my opinion,” Logan said.

“It’s dangerous is what it is!” Patton exclaimed, pulling at the sleeves of his cardigan.

Logan turned his gaze to Patton and Roman was glad not to be on the end of its iciness. “Didn’t you say you would do anything to help Roman find Virgil?”

“Yes but- Logan,” Patton’s tone turned pleading. “It’s not safe.”

“How funny, wasn’t it _you_ who said just a few weeks ago that your safety didn’t matter?”

“It’s Roman’s safety that I’m worried about! Not my own!”

“At this point, no one is safe anymore so if you would just stop-”

“Okay!” Roman burst in, stopping their side conversation before it could escalate into anything more. “How about you two run this new idea by me and all three of us can decide?”

Logan waited on Patton and, finally, Patton sighed and nodded.

“So we can’t contact Virgil,” Logan said. “That doesn’t mean that all hope is lost. It could mean that Virgil is currently not in a state to accept me into his mind. As seen with Patton, telepathically communicating requires a strong connection in both parties, so if Virgil is injured or in any type of weakened state, it’s more difficult to reach him.”

Roman nodded. “So what do you suggest?”

“Well,” Logan said and adjusted his glasses. “Virgil is not the only one we can get in contact with.”

Roman blinked. “You mean D.C.?”

Logan nodded and—at Patton’s uncomfortable shift from where he was standing—shot his friend a look. “Precisely,” he said. “Considering since D.C. is, as far as we know, unharmed.”

“What makes you think he’ll want to speak to you, though?” Roman asked. “Of all the things you two are with him, I didn’t think one of them was on speaking terms.”

“Perhaps not,” Logan agreed. “But we are also the two he has been after for over a century. I’m sure we’re much more desirable to him than Virgil.”

Roman nodded and looked to Patton. “You don’t like this plan.”

Patton shook his head and frowned. “It’s really risky,” he said. “To contact D.C. just makes it easier for him to find you and Logan and- and I know how to deal with him but you don’t really know him at all and-” He cut himself off with a sigh and pulled again at his cardigan. “-I just can’t stand to see another person get hurt by him.”

Roman sighed and worried his bottom lip. “I appreciate the concern, Patton,” he then said, an apology already clear in his voice. “But D.C. already knows where we are. Staying here isn’t staying in hiding. Logan’s right when he says that none of us are safe anymore.” Turning to Logan, he then continued with, “I say contact him. See if you get through. See… see what he wants.”

Logan nodded. “Then I’ll need time to reach him,” he said. “I don’t even remember the last time I contacted him.” He then looked at Patton and frowned. “And I… apologize for snapping at you, Patton. It wasn’t fair of me to do that and I should have been more considerate of your concerns.”

Patton shrugged and gave him a weak smile. “It’s okay, Lo,” he said. “I just… I’m worried.”

“I know you are, but we have to try.” Logan then crossed his legs underneath him and clasped his hands in his lap. “Now, I can stay out here, seeing as it would be easier for you two to monitor what is going on, but I would require silence, or at least little to no distractions.”

Roman furrowed his eyebrows. “Monitor you…?”

“Yes,” Logan affirmed. “So that you two can know if-... _when_ I get into contact with D.C. without having to worry about calling out to you both and possibly losing the connection.”

“How will we know when you get into contact with him?” Roman asked. “I’m assuming there’s no, like, caller ID or something.”

Logan gave Roman a small smile as Patton answered with, “You’ll know.”

Roman huffed out a dry laugh. “That doesn’t sound ominous at all.”

Patton smiled sheepishly. “It’s sorta… odd to explain.”

“Okay, well, do your thing,” Roman said, standing. Remembering how straining telepathically communicating could be for Logan, thinking back to how draining it was for him to find Patton, Roman bent over a placed a kiss to the top of his head. “You got this.”

Logan smiled. “Perhaps.”

Leaving Logan on his own, Roman followed Patton into the kitchen. Patton slumped down in his chair, resting his head down on his hands. Roman, frowning, pushed his own chair as quietly as he could next to Patton.

“You okay?” Roman whispered, ducking down next to Patton.

Patton shrugged and shifted his head to look at Roman. “I stressed him out, so now I’m trying to calm him down, and it’s very tiring,” he whispered back. “He’s very stressed and I’m not feeling very calm.”

Roman frowned. “I’m sorry,” he said, since he felt like it was needed, though he didn’t quite know what he was apologizing for. Perhaps for them contacting D.C., perhaps for their situation in entirety.

Patton gave him a tired smile. “It’s fine,” he said and then, like a parenting quieting their child, tapped his finger to his lip and Roman obliged, falling into silence.

If a watched pot never boils, then a watched vampire never contacts the killer vampire that they’ve been trying to find for weeks now. With each tick of the clock, Roman felt the pit of nerves in his stomach grow larger and larger.

What if this didn’t work? What if they couldn’t get in contact with D.C.? They already couldn’t get into contact with Virgil, and now Logan was literally trying to put himself into D.C.’s head, but what if it didn’t work? What if they never found D.C? Or what if they did but what if D.C. can hurt Logan from inside his mind and-

Roman felt Patton’s hand suddenly slip into his. The calmness that seeped into him was weak, tired, but Roman was at least grateful to have something to hold on to. He squeezed Patton’s hand, albeit too tightly, and Patton squeezed back with a weak smile.

However, both of their heads snapped towards Logan when they heard a gasp break from him.

“He found him,” Patton whispered.

Roman suddenly realized what they meant when they said that Roman would know when Logan got through.

Roman caught Logan just when his eyes snapped open and Roman—expecting Logan to look hectic, yes, but also around the room—watched in shock, or perhaps horror, as Logan’s eyes rolled back. Roman felt his stomach turn. When Logan’s eyes rolled back to where they were supposed to be, Roman’s jaw dropped at seeing that the usual red of Logan’s eyes were replaced with a bright, vibrant yellow with black slits for pupils.

“Holy shit,” Roman managed out, definitely much louder than he should have been, and Patton shushed him.

Roman, unable to follow directions under these circumstances, continued with, “Is this what always-” only to, once again, be shushed by Patton. This time Patton actually waved his hand as if he was ready to throw his hand over Roman’s mouth. Roman, instead, clamped a hand over his mouth as he believed that was the only way he could keep himself from talking.

Logan blinked twice and his eyes returned to their red, however the glassy sheen over them did not go unnoticed. He was looking towards Roman but a chill passed down Roman’s spine as he realized he wasn’t being looked at, but looked through.

Roman realized that Logan, with his unseeing eyes and his stone-like posture, looked very dead. He averted his eyes. Patton, honestly, looked more anxious than Roman did. He had his hands clasped in front of his mouth, lightly biting on the knuckle of his thumb. His blue eyes, staring down at the table, were wide behind his glasses and Roman, if he didn’t know any better, would have guessed that he was the only animated thing in the room.

“No, _no_ \- wait- _shit!_ ” Logan suddenly exclaimed. His voice, shattering the silence, caused Roman to jump and Patton’s hands to slam onto the table, both of their heads snapping towards him. Logan, already pale, looked washed out, looked drained; his eyes were dull, their vibrancy lost in his obvious exhaustion. His thumbs were pressed to his temples as if he was trying to push through a headache.

“Logan-” Patton started, but Roman was quick to interrupt him with, “What happened?”

“I- I don’t know,” Logan stammered, his voice strained. His eyes were panicked as they fell upon Roman.

Roman frowned. “What about Virgil?”

“I don’t _know_ ,” Logan continued, his tone exasperated. He winced, his eyes pinching shut for a minute, before quietly continuing with, “He didn’t say anything but ‘enjoy this time while you can’. What does that even mean?”

“That’s what he said to you?” Patton asked and Logan nodded

“He’s plotting something, I think,” Logan said. It was obvious that he was forcing himself to be quiet. “He has a plan and I’m going to contact him again. I can force him to talk, I can do something-”

“Logan, you’re only going to tire yourself out,” Patton interjected. “You did what you could, but we can’t have you exhausted when he’s-”

“No, Patton, I need to contact him again because we need to put an end to this! It doesn’t matter what I feel. What matters is that I have something that is useful to us and-”

“Logan, if you’re draining yourself out, that leaves us down one more person against him. We need you conserving your energy because there are other steps to take-”

“What other steps?” Logan exclaimed and, instead of wincing, yelped out in pain. His hands, flying to press at his eyes, actually managed to send his glasses off his face and toppling down to the floor. A beat of tense silence passed over the room before Logan managed out, not moving his hands from his eyes, “What else is left? This was supposed to work.”

Patton looked as if he meant to say something more but Roman put a hand up to stop him. Rising from his chair, Roman crossed over to Logan, who only looked up from his hands when Roman was right in front of him. Up close, Roman could see dark veins at the surface of Logan’s temples and under his eyes. His eyes themself were red-rimmed and bloodshot, though not from tears, but as if they had been under extreme pressure. There was a crease in between Logan’s brows, most likely the cause of him staring up at Roman through a headache.

Roman silently reached down and picked up Logan’s glasses. He slid them back onto his face.

Logan whispered, “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” Roman said softly. Then, carefully, he ran a hand through Logan’s hair and Logan, with his eyes slipping shut, leaned into the touch. “You’re in pain.”

“I’m fine.”

“Let me rephrase. It’s obvious that you’re in pain.”

Logan sighed and opened his eyes again, looking up at him. “This happens whenever I’m given permission to enter someone’s mind for the first time,” he explained. “I had thought that, because at one point I was allowed into D.C.’s mind with no trouble, this wouldn’t happen, but…”

“But it did,” Roman finished for him and Logan nodded. “What is it that hurts?”

Logan frowned and averted his eyes. “I have quite the headache and, apologize for my exaggeration, but it feels as if someone is stabbing my eyes.”

Roman’s stomach twisted at the thought of Logan going through this when he contacted Roman for the first time. “And what happens when it’s not the first time?”

“The headaches never really go away, only differing in intensity,” Logan continued. “I occasionally get rather tired.”

“You shouldn’t strain yourself because of this,” Roman assured quietly. “You did all you could.”

“I should’ve done more-”

“We all knew this could’ve been what happened,” Roman said, surprised that he was able to keep any sadness out of his voice. He had hoped that this exact situation wouldn’t happen; he hoped that they would’ve been able to find Virgil. Roman had a feeling that Logan was already feeling guilty over that, however, and Roman didn’t want to be the one to add onto that guilt. “To try to contact him again, especially if he isn’t letting you in, is only going to hurt you more.” He worried his bottom lip. “I don’t want to see you in pain. We can… we can think of something else to do.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I’m still going to try to contact Virgil.”

Roman sighed. “Logan…”

“We don’t know Virgil’s state yet,” Logan said. “I’m not able to get through to D.C., but to rule out Virgil would only be illogical.”

Roman hesitated before finally nodding. They were running out of options, and Logan was right. “Okay, just… be careful, okay?”

Logan nodded.

Roman smiled down at Logan. “Thank you for contacting him, though. At least we know he’s plotting… something.” He then bent down to kiss Logan’s forehead. “And that’s because kisses are said to make you feel better.”

Logan managed a weak smile. “Thank you, Roman.”

\--

If Roman listened carefully enough, he could hear a phone ringing down in the lobby from where he was sitting in the conference room. His eyes stared ahead at the board—the one with all the papers tacked on it—and felt as if he was looking without seeing.

There had to be something he was missing. Perhaps there was a clue that pointed to where D.C. took Virgil; maybe it was right in front of his eyes and he just wasn’t looking at things the right way.

Maybe there was a way to prevent this all along.

_Maybe you should’ve opened your eyes to something other than the two vampires in your-_

Roman cut off that thought so quickly, he got metaphorical whiplash.

There couldn’t have been a way to prevent this… right? D.C. was the one to go into hiding. He was the one to be completely M.I.A for weeks with no evidence left over to even give a vague point in the direction of where he was. He was the one lurking after all of them— _You should’ve been able to find him, you should’ve been able to_ —and it was how Logan always said, going after D.C. was a bad game of cat and mouse. You never knew who was the hunter and who was the hunted.

Sirens could suddenly be heard leaving the agency. Agents were probably going out on their daily patrols and of course Roman wasn’t allowed out because it was dangerous or whatever and-

Wait.

Roman furrowed his eyebrows.

They couldn’t use sirens for daily patrols; they probably would have been sued for disturbing the peace if they had sirens going every day. Sirens were only used during emergencies. As in shit-is-about-to-go-down emergencies.

Which, Roman assumed, wasn’t good.

Roman took a slow step away from the board and peered out the window of the conference room and into the hallway of the agency. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, though Roman knew that _seemed_ was usually different than _actuality_. He grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder, just in case he missed the memo and was actually needed on a hunt. He then opened the door, the click of the lock unhatching ringing louder than it should have, but maybe that was because Roman could feel the tension coming into the room in rough waves.

Before he even entered the lobby, he had a feeling something was very, very off.

When he entered the lobby and everyone’s eyes shot to him, he _knew_ something was very, very off.

The first person he caught eyes with was Joan, who had been coming out of the pharmacy. “You’re okay!” they exclaimed, as if they thought he wasn’t going to be.

Roman quirked an eyebrow at Joan as they approached. There weren’t many other people in the lobby, besides the two receptionists and a few agents not on patrols, but Roman was too aware of their eyes boring into him. “Joan, I know I’ve gone through some traumatic shit, but-”

“No, you know what I mean,” Joan said, standing in front of him. “You’re _here_ and _okay_. I didn’t even see you come in this morning, I was nervous that they got to you.”

Roman stared down at his friend. “I… alright, Joan. You’ve lost me.”

Joan frowned at him, their eyebrows furrowing. “You mean, you haven’t heard?”

“Unfortunately not, I guess.”

“They founds the vampires.”

Something that felt like relief broke in Roman. Of course that was what the sirens were for. D.C., now that he attacked the agency, couldn’t stay hidden away forever. He made himself too known; he had set himself up for failure. “Oh, that’s great! They found him, which means we can find-”

And then Roman’s stomach took a pit fall so fast and from such a great height that a wave of nausea came over him.

_Vampires._

_Plural._

_Vampiressssss._

“Vampires?” Roman couldn’t push his voice to be anything but quiet, weak. “As in more than one?”

Joan nodded, most likely taking Roman’s fear for anything but _oh-my-God-those-are-most-likely-my-vampires_. “Yeah, I know that Lockwell thought there was more, but I always thought he was grasping for straws, you know? Turns out he was right. But, Roman, that’s not even the most fucked part.”

The word almost caught in Roman’s throat. “What?”

“This guy called them in, right? He said that he saw the vampiric activity right around the apartment complex on fifty-seventh street. He even said he thought he saw something in the apartment on the third floor, the one facing the street.” Joan paused and Roman was sure he was going to faint. “Roman, I’ve been to your apartment, that’s your apartment!”

Roman was convinced that his heart was no longer beating in his chest, yet he still heard his pulse pounding in his ears.

“I-I have to go,” Roman stammered. His voice was quieter than he expected it to be. His feet, taking a mind of their own, began to walk him to the front doors of the agency.

“Roman?” Joan said behind him. “Don’t tell me you’re going there. It’s not safe, Roman, you should-”

“I need to-” Roman never finished his thought, for his feet had carried him to the sidewalk outside, and it was then that he began sprinting to his apartment. He had no time to dig out keys and deal with parking garages and red lights that he’d be tempted to run. Every agent, ever since the vampire case was brought in, was equipped with wolfsbane, and it wasn’t difficult for any of them to get a machete.

If he was lucky and fast enough, one of them might be conscious, at least.

The thought made Roman’s throat tighten and his lungs constrict, growing pained as he continued to push his feet off the concrete at ever increasing rates.

Agency cars, their lights on and flashing, were parked in front of Roman’s apartment complex. He burst in through the front door, practically flying up the stairs as his footsteps echoed throughout the metal staircase. Sounds of struggle could be heard and Roman pushed himself faster when he heard Patton plead, his voice torn, “Don’t, please!”

Thomas and Talyn were the first people Roman saw, and they gaped back at him as he stepped into the open doorway. Talyn, stood behind Patton, had Patton’s arms restrained behind his back. Thomas, in front, held a needle swirling with the black liquid of wolfsbane over his head; though, at the sight of Roman, it was frozen in air.

Patton had his fangs bared and a violent hiss ripped out of his throat at seeing Roman. Roman had a feeling it was more from fear than anger. He struggled against Talyn, though Roman didn’t think Patton was trying his hardest to get away. A vampire could easily break a human if need be, let alone escape; even in a life threatening moment, Patton refused to hurt anyone.

Roman looked to his left and there stood Lockwell, staring down at Roman, though he wasn’t who Roman was concerned with. For at Lockwell’s feet was Logan, and Roman’s stomach churned at the sight. A muzzle—identical to the one shown to Roman just the day prior—was strapped around his face, the leather straps digging into his cheeks and jaw. A small iron bar, cutting between the cage of the muzzle itself, was forced in between Logan’s upper and lower jaw, adding more to the difficulty of Logan being unable to bite, let alone move his mouth. Roman could see the struggling of his jaw underneath the straps, yet no sign of the contraption breaking showed.

A familiar translucence had come over Logan, along with a tremble that rocked at something in Roman’s memory, and it was only when his eyes caught the empty needle in Lockwell’s hands did Roman realize that this scene was all too familiar; this was the same state Logan was in the first night they met.

Which meant that Logan was poisoned and in pain and weak and soon to be delirious.

Logan looked up to Roman with a look that screamed fear and desperation, and Roman felt his racing heart shatter.

Only a second, maybe three, had passed since Roman entered his apartment, but he believed he had seen enough for a lifetime.

A _“Stop!”_ ripped from Roman’s throat, so frantic and so booming that Roman almost didn’t recognize his own voice. That was what sprung life back into the situation at hand, for the other three in Roman’s apartment all started shouting over one another and a hiss broke once again out of Patton.

“Don’t hurt them!” Roman shouted over the yelling, collapsing to his knees besides Logan. “They aren’t going to hurt you!” Lockwell’s voice rung particularly louder at that statement. Roman ignored it and, from his bag, ripped out a needle filled with liquid ammonia.

Roman assumed that every agent in the room knew what he was about to do, but before any of them could even object to Roman’s upcoming action, Roman drived the needle into Logan’s arm and injected him with the antidote.

“What are you doing?” Lockwell shouted, Thomas and Talyn’s voice dying out. “Where did you even get that antidote?”

“The pharmacy,” Roman said, his voice surprisingly calm as he slipped the now empty needle back into his bag. He then looked up to Lockwell, who looked as if he was about to burst a vein. “Thought I’d might need it someday.”

“Why are these things even in here?” Lockwell snapped, gesturing erratically to Patton, still restrained, and Logan, gradually recovering

It was a question with an answer both of them knew. A vampire couldn’t enter anyone’s home without explicit permission, and it was quite obvious that Logan and Patton had that permission. Lockwell just wanted to hear Roman say it, to hear that his top agent had, technically, been undermining him for weeks.

Roman swallowed thickly.

He had no lies left to tell.

“I let them in,” he said.

“You-” Lockwell growled and his fist clenched around the needle in his own hand. For a moment, Roman was convinced that Lockwell’s anger was about to reach his peak and that, in the next second, Roman would have a needle enlodged in his own neck. Instead, Lockwell dropped the needle and grabbed at the collar of Roman’s shirt, yanking him up. “You two, kill them,” he ordered to Talyn and Thomas. His eyes then turned back to Roman. “And _you_ , you’re going to be lucky if you’re not rotting in jail by the end of the-”

 _“Don’t!”_ Patton suddenly cried out, his voice desperate and reaching all corners of the room. All heads, including Logan’s, whipped towards him and Patton stared pleadingly at Lockwell. “Roman was doing the right thing! He can help! _We_ can help!”

“Patton,” Roman said warningly.

“We know who you’re after!” Patton exclaimed. Both Thomas and Talyn raised an eyebrow, turning their look from Patton to Roman and Lockwell and then back to Patton. “Roman’s been- Roman’s been helping us!”

“And what makes you think I should trust _you?_ ” Lockwell questioned, disgust clear in this voice. “Your kind has only proved to wreak havoc in this city! You are all abominations plaguing the city in which I serve to protect, and you suddenly expect me to trust you?”

Roman had a feeling that Patton wasn’t going to be backing down from this plan to help anytime soon.

“Because they’re the only hope that we have left,” Roman answered. Lockwell still held a tight grip on his shirt. “You were right, there was always more than one vampire in this city, but only one has been ‘wreaking havoc’. These two, though—Logan and Patton—know D.C.—that’s our killer vampire—and, while they’ve been helping me, we’ve reached a point where they can’t stay out of the case and still help.” A pause. “We need them, Lockwell.”

“And so you’ve just been… keeping them here?” Thomas asked slowly, his voice sounding as if he hadn’t used it in years, though shock was bound to do that to a person.

Roman nodded. “Anything else would have gotten them killed,” he said, eyeing Lockwell.

Lockwell scoffed. “Do not act like I am the ‘bad guy’ here, Prince,” he snapped. “Only one of us has been going against our agency and what’s right for this city, and it wasn’t me.”

“He’s been helping-” Patton started but winced and quickly silenced himself when Lockwell boomed, _“Shut it!”_ at him.

“Don’t yell at him! He’s right!” Roman exclaimed as Lockwell dropped him back to the floor. “I’ve been using what they’ve been telling me to narrow down our search. They know the vampire that you’ve been after, who, might I mention, is the same one who has Virgil. But we’re at a point where their knowledge of D.C. cannot continue to be used without our collective assistance.” He then gently rested a hand on Logan’s shoulder, still trembling, and Roman was unsure if it was from the lasting effects of the poison or fear.

Lockwell shook his head. “Unbelievable,” he said. “You cannot expect me to believe that joining forces with these things is what will help us.” He turned to Thomas and Talyn and snapped, “I thought I told you two to kill these things!”

“I-I don’t know,” Talyn stammered, sharing a look with Thomas. “Maybe Roman’s right.”

“Yeah,” Thomas said, nodding. “If… if these vampires have what we need, shouldn’t we use that?”

Lockwell turned to Roman with a look of utter contempt. “If Virgil doesn’t return,” he said lowly. “I don’t ever want to see your face again, Prince.”

“If Virgil doesn’t return,” Roman said. “I don’t plan on coming back. Now, I’ll tell you everything I know, as I’m sure Logan and Patton will, if you tell Thomas and Talyn to let Patton go and you let me take this torture device off of Logan.”

Lockwell warily eyed everyone else in the room. “Fine,” he finally grumbled. “If one of them lunges for your throat, I’m not saving you.”

Roman turned to Talyn and nodded and, at that, they released Patton’s arms. Both Thomas and Talyn took a step back, still eyeing the two vampires with caution, as Patton scrambled over to where Logan still lied on the floor at Roman’s knees. Roman was already working on the clasps of the muzzle and Patton began to assist. When the muzzle was finally off, Patton’s hands immediately went to cup Logan’s jaw, and Roman watched as the nervous look in Logan’s eyes faded to something less heartracing.

Roman, unable to take Logan’s hand, placed a hand on the small of his back.

Patton, looking up to where Lockwell towered over him, asked, “Where would you like us to begin?”

And so Patton and Logan explained themselves and D.C. and their relationship with D.C. They explained his plan and his spite and his desire to see Logan and Patton dead. They explained the first seven murders and the apartment fire. They told Lockwell about the attacks and their powers and how Roman was the one they needed. They explained the attack against Virgil and how it wasn’t random, wasn’t random at all, and why that was exactly why the agency needed to work with them. And Lockwell, albeit begrudgingly, agreed.

It wasn’t until Roman was following Lockwell, Thomas, and Talyn out of his apartment that Lockwell and Roman spoke again.

“I didn’t do this to undermine the agency,” Roman said quietly, stopping Lockwell as Thomas and Talyn continued down the apartment hall.

Lockwell sighed and shook his head. “Then why?”

“Because I couldn’t kill them if they weren’t the ones that did this,” Roman explained, tired. “I don’t think we need to attack every creature we come across because of one bad one.”

“Well,” Lockwell said, his eyes steely. “That will be decided if Virgil returns.”

Roman wordlessly watched Lockwell continue down the hall.

When he turned back into his apartment, he found Logan sitting on the end cushion of the couch—his arms wrapped around his legs, tucked up to his chest, and his head resting on his kneecaps—and Patton busying himself with non-existent chores in the kitchen, instead just fluttering between adjusting things on the table and counter.

The effects of what just took place were setting over the apartment and he could feel the nervousness radiating off of both of them.

Roman, slowly, walked up to the couch. Logan didn’t look up from where his eyes were trained on the ground. Roman sat next to him and pried one of Logan’s hands from his legs and took it in his own. “Logan,” he said softly.

Logan worried his bottom lip and averted his eyes.

“Logan, talk to me,” Roman murmured.

“I couldn’t speak,” Logan managed out, his voice barely above a whisper. “Even with the antidote, no matter how hard I tried, I could not speak around that… that thing.”

Roman remembered when D.C. had taken his words away from him in the alley and then remembered Logan explaining that D.C.’s powers didn’t quite work on Logan and Patton.

Perhaps, then, Logan had never experienced losing his words as they travelled up his throat, and Roman’s heart ached.

“We weren’t even doing anything,” Logan continued. Roman instantly heard the shakiness of his voice and squeezed his hand. “We were just in here, as usual, when they burst in through the door.” He gave a humorless laugh that sounded more like a wet cough. “Of course, I don’t look particularly… human and Patton didn’t have his disguise up.”

Roman nodded. “When I was told that a tip about vampires in my apartment was called in, I tried to get here as fast as I could,” he said. “I don’t think that tip was called in by some random person with great intuition.”

“D.C.,” Logan whispered and Roman nodded.

“But now we need to lay low,” Roman explained. “This is probably what D.C. meant by ‘enjoy this time while you can’. He expected this to be what… what killed you two.” He shook his head and swallowed the lump in his throat. “We can finally be ten steps in front of him.”

Logan nodded but retracted his hand from Roman’s. He nervously bit on his knuckle and the slight shake of his shoulders didn’t go unnoticed. Roman knew that Logan was scared, much more than he let on, and shaken to his core. He just wasn’t going to admit it.

“You’re okay, Logan,” Roman whispered and wrapped an arm around Logan, hugging him close. Logan, with no hesitation, rested his head on Roman’s shoulder, curling his body in towards Roman.

Roman then caught Patton sneaking glances at them and he smiled a small one. “Patton, get over here,” he said, reaching out a hand. “Don’t even make me ask.”

Roman knew that vampires moved faster than the average human, but he still wasn’t quite expecting Patton to practically fling himself into Roman’s side. Roman wrapped a protective arm around Patton and sighed. “Guys, I’m so sorry,” he murmured.

“Don’t apologize,” Patton said softly. “This isn’t something you can blame yourself for.”

“But Lockwell was about to-”

“Kill us?” Patton finished and Logan tensed beside Roman. “We know. But, unless you want to go back and regret ever letting Logan into your apartment, you have nothing to apologize for.”

Roman nodded, worrying his bottom lip. “I’m glad you two are okay,” he said and pressed a kiss to Logan’s head while squeezing Patton tighter. “And are going to be okay.”

“I think we’re going to finally put an end to this,” Patton said.

Logan nodded. “I have a feeling we will.”

“We just have to find D.C. and Virgil,” Roman said. The word _alive_ was left unsaid but heard. “And show D.C. that he can’t run and play with our lives any longer.”

\--

“You know, I have to be honest with you, kiddo,” Patton said, walking alongside Roman on the sidewalk. “I didn’t expect your agency—well, _most_ of your agency—to be so nice.” He grinned, his eyes sparkling underneath the lights of the lampposts. “It’s all so sweet and refreshing.”

“You mean to tell me,” Roman said, looking down at Patton with a smirk. The pair had just left the agency, where Lockwell had requested Roman to take Patton (and only Patton, considering that he was the one who could look human, but Logan was still communicating with them), and Roman was still adjusting to Patton’s human appearance. Though nothing about him really changed, it was still off-putting to see the rosiness of his cheeks and the light blue of his eyes, dull in comparison to the usual fluorescence of them. “That in your, what, three-hundred-and-seventy years of living, no monster hunting agency has ever requested your presence?”

Patton laughed and shook his head. “Not that I can remember,” he said. “And three-hundred-and-forty-four, but you were close!”

“Well, you don’t look a day over three-hundred-and-twenty,” Roman joked. “Or thirty, because that’s what you are in human years.”

“I can see why Logan is so charmed by you,” Patton said with a wink before laughing again.

“Of course he is, I’m the most charming person he has ever met,” Roman beamed. “Unless there’s been other charming men throughout the ages that I don’t know about.”

Patton shook his head with a grin. “You’re the only one,” he said. “No reason to be jealous.”

“I wasn’t jealous,” Roman half-lied.

“I could feel it on you,” Patton said and Roman rolled his eyes.

“So I have one vampire who can enter my head whenever he wishes, another who has the power to make me the most terrified I have ever been, and another one who has my best friend and can, like, tempt me or some shit.” Roman huffed out a breath, blowing his bangs out of his eyes. “Wonderful.”

“Well, speaking of the devil,” Patton said, nudging Roman’s shoulder. “We should probably go faster. Wouldn’t want him finding you when the rest of the agency isn’t here to back you up.”

“Wouldn’t want him finding us, you mean,” Roman corrected.

Patton shrugged. “You’re the one that matters,” he said. “I just have to make sure that you get home safe.”

Patton didn’t realize that Roman stopped walking until he was a couple paces ahead. Patton looked over his shoulder. “Roman?”

“Why do you always say that?”

Patton frowned. “Say what?”

“That everyone else matters over you,” Roman said. “You’ve said it before that your safety doesn’t matter.” Patton worried his bottom lip and looked away. “Patton, why don’t you care about yourself?”

“We should really keep going.”

“Your safety seemed to matter to you yesterday when Lockwell burst into my apartment.”

“Roman-”

“Admit it Patton: you’re scared. I don’t believe this ‘my safety does not matter’ schtick of yours at all.”

Patton sighed and turned to full face Roman. He had dropped his human disguise and Patton’s bright blue eyes shone at him through the darkness. Though, something about them seemed off, as if their brightness was tainted by something… something sad. “It can’t matter, Roman,” he said. “I’m not human. I don’t even think there’s anything humane left to me. People die around me, people always have, and I can’t stand that anymore. I’m not safe to other people, and I can’t stand back as people around me get hurt.”

“Patton,” Roman murmured and Patton shook his head.

“D.C. wants me dead, Roman,” Patton said. “And that _kills_ me because I was supposed to be the one to guide him through this immortal life I gave him. Instead, I couldn’t help him-”

“Help him?” Roman questioned, furrowed his eyebrows. “He wanted to kill people!”

“And shouldn’t I have been able to stop him?” Patton exclaimed, his voice echoing down the empty street. He sucked in a deep breath and shook his head, curls falling into his face. “It doesn’t matter anymore. _I_ don’t matter anymore. It’s always been me against D.C. When this all comes to an end, only one of us is going to be walking away, maybe neither of us.

“But Roman, you and Virgil and even Logan, you have lives to live. You don’t live every day followed with regret for things you did a century ago that you wish you can change.” He took a shaky breath and looked away. “I think we’re going to find D.C. I also think we’re going to find Virgil. I hope you know that I won’t hesitate to put myself in between you and him if it means that you can all be safe.”

Roman scoffed. “Taking the martyr route, I see?” he asked. “What if we kill him? What if he kills you but doesn’t stop at us? What then?”

“He wants me, Roman. I don’t even think he’d care about Logan if I was dead.”

“You’re not answering my questions, Patton.”

Patton didn’t respond. Instead, he looked up to the stars and stared into the vast, black abyss above him. Roman stared, too, and was torn between seeing everything and nothing.

“I’ll do what I have to to protect you,” Patton finally said. “I just don’t want to hurt anymore anymore.” He then turned and started walking down the sidewalk again. “We should keep going.”

Roman shoved his hands into his pockets and followed.

\--

The clock on Roman’s bedside table read two-oh-seven-A.M. when Roman was roughly shaken from his sleep. He groaned, preparing to yank a pillow over his head and tell the person at his bedside to fuck off and, if said person was a serial killer, to come back in the morning, when Logan’s voice whispered next to him, “He’s alive.”

Roman’s mind, fumbling through waking up, took a moment to register what Logan had said and, when it finally clicked in his mind, his eyes flew open.

_“He’s alive.”_

_Virgil._

_Virgil was alive._

“You found him?” Roman asked, dumbfounded, staring at Logan through the darkness.

Logan nodded. Roman reached over a flicked the lamp on and Logan, looking just as tired as he was when he contacted D.C., came into view. “He’s weak,” he said. “But he’s alive.”

“What did he say? Did he say anything?”

“It wasn’t a lot,” Logan explained. “I assume he’s barely keeping consciousness, let alone having enough energy to put into speaking with me. But he’s alive, and I think he’s being kept alive. He said something about… about a warehouse, he thinks? It’s empty, save for him and D.C.”

“A warehouse?” Roman rubbed his eyes, thinking. They were in a city, there were warehouses and storage units on every block. The discovery narrowed their search down, yes, but that didn’t mean the answer would suddenly come to them.

Logan nodded and it was then that Roman noticed the small smile on his face. “Lucky for us, though, across from our old apartment—yes, the one D.C. burned down—there is an abandoned warehouse, one no one has gone in in the years Patton and I have been in this city.”

Roman blinked.

Alright, maybe the answer would come to them.

“You think he’s there,” he said.

“I think so,” Logan affirmed. “I believe D.C. is calling us home, so to speak.”

Roman nodded.

“You should probably call your boss.”

“Oh, I definitely should.”

\--

With a plan to ambush the warehouse D.C. was located (the moment Roman called Lockwell, Logan took off as a bat before the sun could rise and reported back that D.C. and Virgil could be seen through the upper windows) the following night, the agency, along with Logan and Patton, took the day and night ahead of them to prepare. At this point, the entire agency was involved. While, with the set plan, Roman was the only agent heading into the warehouse, the rest would be stationed along the street, ready to rush in at Roman’s signal.

They all assumed they’d need more than just one agent and two vampires to take down D.C.. Roman believed that, too.

He just hoped their plan worked.

“So we all understand what’s going on, yes?” Roman asked the two vampires trailing behind him as he pushed open his apartment door. The setting sun cast an orange glow in Roman’s apartment. “You two are going in as a _fake_ sacrifice, giving me just enough time to get to Virgil and signal Lockwell and the others through the radio.” He shut the door behind the three of them and slid Patton and Logan a look, holding Patton’s eyes for longer. “I’m serious when I say that this is a fake sacrifice. You guys aren’t actually going in and sacrificing yourself to D.C. I just need to find Virgil, and then once the agents are in the warehouse, you two are getting the fuck out and taking Virgil with you.”

“We know,” Logan said, sitting down on one of Roman’s kitchen stools. “We were there when the plan was made.”

“I know, I just,” Roman sighed and dragged a hand through his hair as Patton sat next to Logan. “I’m stressed and I care about both of you too much to not go over it again. So, let me say it again, I don’t want heroics from either of you; leave that to the agents.” Roman then made a face, bringing out a smile from Logan and a giggle from Patton. “I sound exactly like my bosses and I hate it.”

“It’s understandable,” Logan said. “You’re under a lot of pressure right now. It makes sense for you to be stressed.” He reached across the counter and gentle squeezed Roman’s hand. “We’re not going to deviate from the plan. I think I can speak for the both of us-” He flicked his eyes at Patton. “-When I say that we understand that our main priority is bringing Virgil to safety.”

Roman nodded and gave Logan a small smile, running his thumb over the top of his hand. “Thank you, both of you,” he said, looking between Logan and Patton. “For everything. For helping me with D.C. and for being my friends. I’m sure that, when we get Virgil back-” Getting Virgil back was still a big if, but Roman was still trying to be the optimist between the two of them. “-He’ll give you two a proper thanking before returning to his regular amounts of edginess and angst.”

“You’re acting like this is a goodbye,” Patton said softly. “We’re… we’re going to get him back, and…” He worried his bottom lip and Roman thought back to the conversation they had the previous night.

_“It’s always been me against D.C. When this all comes to an end, only one of us is going to be walking away, maybe neither of us.”_

_“I’ll do what I have to to protect you. I just don’t want to hurt anymore anymore.”_

“And we’ll try to get all four of us back,” Patton finished.

“A martyr shouldn’t come out of this,” Roman said for good measure.

He didn’t know what would come out of meeting with D.C. He didn’t know what Logan would do, what Patton would do, hell, Roman didn’t even know what _he_ was going to do, let alone if all of them were even going to come out of seeing D.C.. But, just as Patton didn’t want anyone hurting anymore, Roman didn’t want to see anyone else be dragged down in this case, self-sacrificing or not.

Roman just hoped it didn’t come to that.

As the night progressed and settled into just before midnight, Patton had taken off for one final hunting spree and Roman lied in his bed, tucked up against Logan. All lights were off in the apartment, leaving Roman and Logan to take in whatever glow the moon provided, with the occasional red glint from Logan’s eyes catching Roman’s.

“Are you nervous?” Roman asked quietly, tracing his fingers on Logan’s chest.

“I don’t know,” Logan said. “Throughout the past century, we’ve had so many run-ins with D.C., this almost feels like a routine. Except something is… off.”

Roman nodded. “Maybe because this might be your last time meeting with D.C.,” he said, looking up to the man next to him. “After tomorrow, he shouldn’t be a problem for you two anymore.”

Logan sighed. “Hopefully that is how this ordeal progresses,” he said, staring up at the ceiling.

Something at Roman poked in him to chide Logan for the doubt, but Roman believed that his doubt directed towards the reality of the situation. In this time of night, with the moon up above and the darkness surrounding them, Roman didn’t think he could try to avoid reality.

“I think you should be out there hunting with Patton,” Roman suggested. “I know our plan is for you two to not really get involved with D.C. but… don’t you want to be safe? Doesn’t hunting make you stronger?”

“To be quite honest, Roman,” Logan said. “I think we have reached our limit with hunting animals. Animal blood can only do so much, and it has done all that it could. Patton hunts to stick to a routine, to sustain some type of normalcy, but I see no point in doing it tonight when it isn’t working, especially if I feel the same as I did three weeks ago and no stronger.”

Roman stared up at Logan. He said that animal blood wouldn’t work, but that meant that…

“Use me,” Roman said.

Logan furrowed his eyebrows and propped himself up on his elbow, jostling Roman next to him. “What?”

“You’ve said it yourself, human blood makes you stronger,” Roman said. “Luckily for you, you have a human at your disposal.”

Logan sighed. “Roman…”

“Is there an issue?” Roman quirked an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me that the whole oh-I-don’t-know-if-I’ll-be-able-to-stop-drinking-your-blood thing is a legitimate fear among vampires.”

“No, it’s-” Logan rolled his eyes. “-I can control myself, thank you. I just… don’t want to hurt you.”

“Well, can it kill me?”

“Only if I’m an idiot.”

“Then it won’t hurt me,” Roman said. As he watched Logan eye him nervously, he softened his gaze. “Obviously, though, only if you want to. I was just thinking that it could help you, but if it makes you nervous or uncomfortable-”

“No, it’s not that,” Logan said. “I just…” He huffed out a breath and adjusted his glasses. “I am worried about hurting you. You do realize this is blood loss, yes? While I have drank from humans before, and this is a possibility I considered, you’re still going to feel the effects. I can do nothing to quell them.”

“I’ve donated blood before,” Roman said with a smirk. “Universal donor, remember?”

Logan levelled a look with Roman. “Be serious.”

Roman sighed and propped himself up next to Logan, using the hand he wasn’t leaning on to cup Logan’s jaw. “I’m being completely serious. Or at least ninety- no, eighty-five percent serious. Fifteen for error and my witty jokes.” At the smile that cracked on Logan’s face, Roman grinned in return. “But I want to help you, Logan. I trust you to be safe, and I trust that I’m safe with you.”

Logan rested his forehead against Roman’s. “And you’re sure?”

“Positive,” Roman said, pressing a gentle kiss to Logan’s cheek.

“People used as sources typically feel better quicker than an average person who endures regular blood loss, unless the source is near death after the loss, and also there’s the aphrodisiac side-effects, so I’ll be sure-”

“Logan,” Roman said and then proceeded to cut him off with a gentle kiss. “You don’t have to explain anything to me. I trust you and I always have.”

Logan nodded as Roman laid back down on the pillows. “Tell me to stop and I will.”

“Okay.”

Logan situated himself next to Roman. Roman offered him another easy smile; however, when Roman felt Logan’s fangs about to grace the skin on his neck where his pulse beat, he couldn’t help but let out a nervous laugh and tense up. It wasn’t that he was scared, per se, but he still couldn’t convince himself to calm down. Humans typically didn’t have vampires less than an inch from their neck.

“Roman,” Logan said cautiously, leaning back already. Roman shook his head and grabbed for Logan’s hand.

“You’re fine, I’m not scared,” Roman assured, hoping Logan could hear the honesty behind it. “Nervous… maybe, but that’s because this isn’t an everyday occurrence. Just…” He trailed off and squeezed Logan’s hand, too embarrassed to verbally ask for Logan to keep holding his hand.

Logan understood and nodded, squeezing Roman’s hand in return before leaning over him again. He pressed a soft kiss to Roman’s pulse point. “You’re okay, Roman,” he whispered before squeezing Roman’s hand one last time.

Being bitten by a vampire felt as if someone had pierced Roman’s neck with two needles, except perhaps slightly more painful with the pain spread out throughout Roman’s neck. He let out a gasp and clenched Logan’s hand, who ran his thumb over Roman’s hand.

However, as the pain faded, Roman felt as if he was falling. Not as if he was going to lose consciousness, but falling as if all he could see and feel in this moment was Logan. He could feel his blood being manipulated and, at the sensation coursing through him, he let his eyes slip shut. He kept a tight grip on Logan’s hand, except now it remained not because of the pain, but because he wanted to keep Logan as close to him as possible.

If asked at a later time, Roman would go to the ends of the Earth to deny that he let out a moan—of loss or desperation or both—when Logan pulled away from him. He squeezed Logan’s hand tighter and grabbed his shoulder in an attempt to yank him closer. His head felt like it was swimming and his heart was racing in his ribcage and Roman wanted Logan, wanted him closer and for that sensation again and-

“No, that’s enough, Roman,” Logan murmured, his words soft. He pulled back from Roman, sitting on his knees, and Roman, still intending to be as close to Logan as possible, shot up after him only to be overcome with lightheadedness. He immediately collapsed into Logan, burying his face in the crook of his neck. He shut his eyes tight to stop the swaying of his vision.

“Roman, how are you feeling?” Logan asked and Roman just let out a laugh in response. “Come on, Roman.”

“I feel great, Lo,” Roman murmured, curling himself closer to Logan. “I want _you_ , Lo.”

“N-No, not now,” Logan stammered. “To use you as a source again would be dangerous, especially with your state right now.” Roman pouted. “Can you lay down for me? I need to get you something to eat and you shouldn’t be moving around a lot.”

“Will you come back?” Roman asked, looking back up to Logan with wide eyes.

Logan smiled and placed a kiss to Roman’s forehead. “Of course. Just stay here, okay?”

Roman nodded and Logan gently moved him back against the pillows. As Logan left the room, Roman, out of hazed curiosity, touched the puncture wounds and gasped as a sharp pain stung through the wounds. Logan must have heard him because, from the kitchen, he called back, “Don’t touch the wounds, Roman!”

Roman huffed out a breath and stared up at the ceiling in front of him. His head still felt light and airy. A chill ran down his spine, which Roman brushed off as desire seated in him (Logan did say being bitten was like an aphrodisiac), but when Logan walked in, he said, with a frown evident in his voice, “Roman, you’re shivering.”

Roman lolled his head to the side to look at Logan, who was carrying in a water bottle and a granola bar. Logan sat back down next to Roman and slowly, carefully, pulled Roman into a seated position with his back resting against Logan’s chest. Whatever high Roman felt was fading and, content with Logan’s presence, he leaned his head back on Logan’s shoulder.

“How are you feeling?” Logan asked quietly, opening the water bottle for Roman and sliding it into his hand. He then tugged one of Roman’s throw blankets over Roman’s lap.

“ ‘M tired,” Roman mumbled, accepting the water bottle and taking a sip.

“As I expected,” Logan said. “You’ll feel well again soon.”

Roman nodded and looked up at Logan, a smile crossing his face.

Logan smiled back. “What?”

“Thank you.”

Logan arched an eyebrow. “I believe that I should be the one thanking you.”

Roman shook his head and took Logan’s hand with his free one. “No, thank you for this,” he said and pressed a soft kiss to Logan’s wrist.

If Logan was human, Roman had a feeling he would be flushed the darkest shade of red possible. Instead, Logan averted his eyes, though the smile never left his lips. “Just focus on feeling better, okay?”

Still, though, he pressed a kiss to Roman’s head.

\--

The sun was making its descent across the horizon as Roman, driving in a car with Logan and Patton, headed downtown. Other agency cars followed behind them and, as they neared the warehouse, the other cars started pulling down side streets to park and await Roman’s signal.

“Remember, Prince,” Lockwell said to him through the car radio, his voice ringing clear in the silence. “Get to Virgil and signal us through your radio. We’ll start flooding in as those- as Logan and Patton get Virgil out of there.”

“Copy that,” Roman said.

“They’re going in before you, through one of the main doors. They’re a distraction while you head in through one of the back doors we told you about, yes?”

“Correct.”

The line went silent for a moment and Roman began to think that Lockwell hung up his radio in the car behind them when, finally, he said, “Stay safe, Prince.”

“I’ll try,” Roman said. He wasn’t going to lie; he didn’t expect this type of sincerity from Lockwell.

“And remember that your future in this agency is lying on this.”

That was more like it.

“I’m well aware,” Roman said.

The radio clicked off and Roman huffed out a sigh. He’d be lying if he said his stomach wasn’t twisting worse and worse each time he turned a corner, gradually getting closer to the warehouse.

Roman always knew that, one day, they would have to stop D.C. It was still extremely terrifying, though, to think about how his best friend’s life was relying on their success.

 _Stay calm, Roman,_ Logan’s voice, slipping into his mind, said. Perhaps Logan knew that Roman would have rathered silence over idle chatter filled with nothing. _We all know what we have to do._

Roman gave a quick nod, just enough to show that he understood. He sucked in a deep breath, trying to gain control of his racing heartbeat.

When they arrived a block away from the warehouse across from the burnt down apartment complex, Roman pulled over and parked the car. His hands clenched around the wheel, his knuckles turning white, and let out a shaky breath.

“We’re going to find him, Roman,” Patton said softly and laid a gentle hand on Roman’s shoulder. Instantly, Roman felt calmness seep into him and he nodded, finally loosening his grip on the wheel.

“Let’s do this, then,” he said, throwing the driver side door open. Logan and Patton followed him out and Roman grabbed his weapon bag from the back. He was trying to maintain the calmness Patton gave him, using every breathing exercise Virgil had shown him over the years, though when he turned to look at Logan and Patton, he almost lost all of it.

“Stay safe,” he finally said, his voice barely a whisper, and approached the two. “Remember, save the vampire slaying to us.”

“We know, Roman,” Logan said gently. “We’ll distract D.C. until you get to Virgil. Once your agents get in, we’ll take Virgil to safety.”

Roman nodded quickly. “Th-Thank you again,” he said. “For everything. Both of you.”

“Again with the goodbyes,” Patton said quietly.

“Well, you never know.” It was the brutally honest truth and, no matter how much Roman hated it, it was something he had to expect. Even with planning to deceive D.C., they still had to prepare for anything to happen. And Patton’s words—that one of them wouldn’t be walking away from this, maybe not even both—rang clear in his mind.

Maybe that included more than just Patton and D.C.

At Roman’s words, Patton threw himself at Roman in a hug. “You be safe too, alright kiddo?” he said, his voice muffled in Roman’s shoulder and Roman nodded, giving him a tight squeeze in return.

When the two pulled back from each other, Roman stepped up to Logan and, cupping his face, kissed him gently. “I’ll see you in there, then,” he murmured when he pulled away and Logan, slowly opening his eyes to pass them over Roman, nodded.

 _Come out of this,_ Roman thought, or perhaps it was Logan slipping into his mind, twisting their thoughts together into one working unit, full of fear and want and something— something sweet and everlasting—that stood on the tip of Roman’s tongue; something that he couldn’t quite name yet.

As Logan and Patton began the short walk to the warehouse, Roman stayed behind, silently counting to one-hundred. Only when they had long since turned the corner did Roman start his walk after them. If they were going to serve as a distraction to D.C., they had to be in the midst of talking to them by the time Roman entered.

If Virgil were with him, Roman would’ve joked around, saying that he needed his headphones on a walk like this so that he didn’t have to deal with his thoughts. But Virgil wasn’t with him and, currently, Roman’s only company were the thoughts in his head and, without that, he thought he might have lost it.

The warehouse, as Logan explained it, was a building that seemed to have lost its owners in the midst of construction. The building had been left unfinished for years, leaving the back of it sectioned off with barriers and tarps. There would be where Roman found the door he would enter from. He would have to be careful to not make any noise, or at least any noise that sounded human-like, as he went throughout the building and up flights of stairs. Logan, in his bat form, had taken multiple trips to the warehouse in the middle of the night, flying past windows in the hopes of just being seen as another bat, and reported back to Roman each time that both D.C. and Virgil were on the third floor.

It made sense; the third floor, being the top floor, had windows stretching along right by the roof. No pedestrian would be able to see in and realize that there was a vampire and an unlucky human in there.

As the back of the warehouse finally came into view, swaying loose tarps looking like ghosts in the early night, Roman tightly gripped the straps of his backpack. Equipped with his machete along with endless poisons and matches, logistically, Roman was set.

Logistically didn’t always agree with reality, though.

Roman swallowed and pushed those thoughts out of his head. He approached the back door, thankful to find it open and swinging on its hinges in the wind. When the door was blown open, he sneaked it, thankful to not have to touch it and, therefore, alert everyone inside that someone just opened a door.

Roman’s nerves, already frayed, were kicked into overdrive as he entered the warehouse. The lights were either broken—shattered, actually—or flickering, casting looming shadows along the unfinished walls. The sun was no longer up to let in light through the sparse windows, so Roman was left barely being able to see in front of him and he wasn’t stupid enough to risk a flashlight.

He just had to force himself to not think about how, if anything was in this room with Roman, it would see him before he saw it.

Roman carefully ran his hand along the wall and stopped when he felt a door handle. Looking to his right, he squinted at the sign on the door and nodded to himself when he saw that he found a staircase. Carefully, as if his life depended on it (which it did), he pushed open the door and listened carefully. Nothing could be heard in the staircase besides the flickering light high up above Roman. Looking up, Roman noticed that the staircase spiralled up to the third floor.

Roman nodded and closed the door, carefully guiding it back into place before slowly releasing the handle. Gripping his backpack straps, more for security than anything else, he began his walk up the stairs. Despite this time being sure that no one else was in the staircase with him, he walked up on the balls of his feet to be sure that little to no noise travelled up with him.

When he finally reached the top and found the door that would bring him out into the third floor, he crouched down and crawled so that he sat under the door’s window. He took a deep, steadying breath and hoped that the pounding in his ribcage couldn’t be heard by anyone else. Slowly, he rose up just enough to peek out the window and almost slipped backwards when he saw figures standing before him in the center of the floor.

He swallowed thickly when he realized that it was Logan, Patton, and D.C.. He couldn’t see any sign of Virgil.

D.C.’s back was to him. The only reason Roman could even see him was because of the moonlight shining in from the window, casting a shadow across D.C.

Logan and Patton were facing him on either side of D.C.. Roman wondered if they could see him, if they knew that now was when they had to keep his attention more than anything else.

Roman held his breath and put his hand on the handle. He slowly, ever so slowly, turned it, and could have cried in relief in the fact that it made no noise. He pushed the door open, cautiously enough to not creak the hinges.

And slipped in.

As he shut the door, going slowly enough so that it slid easily into place, he knew by now that Logan and Patton definitely had to have seen him. Now, they just had to keep him talking.

“-really a lovely surprise,” D.C. drawled as Roman walked along the wall, hoping to be mixed in with the shadows. “You two wish to return to me.”

“This has gone on long enough, Dee-” Patton had started to say but was only cut off by a sharp laugh from D.C.

“Dee, you say, as if we are still close,” he said, tilting his head back to look up at the ceiling. Roman froze and pressed himself against the wall. “How funny. But do you truly think that, Patton? That there has been enough of this?”

“Obviously,” Logan snapped. D.C. looked forward and Roman kept moving. “This should’ve ended a century ago.”

“No, no, I need to hear Patton say it,” D.C. said. The cheeriness of his voice sent a chill down Roman’s spine. “I need to hear Patton tell me that revenge was never the way to go.”

“Dee…” Patton whispered. “It doesn’t have to be like this anymore.”

“Doesn’t have to be like this anymore?” D.C. questioned, his voice rising in anger. “You ruined me!”

“Ruined you?” Logan scoffed. “You are the one who fooled yourself into thinking that we would agree to your plan.”

“The world is not kind to us!” D.C. shouted and Roman flinched. “It never has been! You should’ve agreed with me, agreed to put an end to the people who were cruel to us. I thought you would have agreed, Patton, considering the way the world treated you, considering how you wanted to-”

“Dee, stop!” Patton cried out and Roman didn’t think he could handle the anguish in his voice.

D.C. chuckled. “Struck a nerve, did I?”

“Don’t you say anything-” Logan started, anger clear in his own voice.

“Logan, stop,” Patton interjected, tired. “Dee, we need to put an end to this. Too many people are getting hurt for something that never should have escalated between the three of us… or maybe even between just the two of us.” He sighed and Roman’s eyes suddenly landed on a figure, curled up in the midst of the shadows, on the floor.

_Virgil._

“This never should have involved other people,” Patton finished.

Roman had to stop himself from sprinting over to Virgil. He was still behind D.C., but now, moving closer to the corner of the room diagonally behind him, any wrong movement and D.C. would see him in his peripheral.

He just had to send the signal on the radio. One button to press and an alert would be sent out to every agent and Logan and Patton would get Virgil out of there and they’d be safe.

“Never should have involved other people?” D.C. questioned. “And what of that new host of yours? Roman, isn’t it?”

“You leave him out of this,” Logan growled.

D.C. laughed. “My, it seems that Logan finally has a heart,” he mocked. “Look at you, growing attached to humans. Don’t you know that they die, Logan? That they hurt us? You say you don’t understand why I do what I do, but what happens when he just sees you as another monster? Or when he finally meets his maker? Mortality is futile thing, even today could be his last day.”

Roman, as he slowly approached Virgil (relief swelled in him when he saw his chest rise and fall), was convinced that Logan was going to attack D.C. when Patton put a hand out to stop either of them from advancing on.

“We left him behind,” Patton explained. “This isn’t about Roman, this is about the three of us. We will go with you and you can do whatever you wish to us. Just… just _please_ , let Virgil go. He has no point being involved in this.”

D.C. hummed. “I might consider it,” he said. “I just have one final question for you two.”

“Which is?” Logan asked.

Roman dropped down next to Virgil and flipped him over. His eyes fluttered weakly and he stared up at Roman without really seeing. His hoodie and t-shirt were torn in places and Roman’s stomach churned at seeing the many bite marks that donned his neck, some still bleeding.

Still, though, his best friend was alive. All he had to do was alert the other agents. He smiled weakly and began to move his hand to the radio attached to his belt-

“How stupid do you two think I really am?”

Ice ran through Roman’s blood.

He snapped his head up to see D.C. knock back both Patton and Logan, sending them flying across the room, and Roman suddenly understood what they meant when they explained that D.C.’s power was greater than either of theirs.

_Press the button on the radio get a hold of the radio press the fucking button-_

Nothing could have prepared Roman for the force of D.C. slamming into him. Roman cried out as the radio was smacked out of his hand and sent skittering into the darkness.

D.C. picked Roman up and flung him away from Virgil. The wind was knocked roughly out of his lungs as he landed on his back, his backpack pushing uncomfortably into his spine.

“Funny how humans think they can surpass our senses,” D.C. said far too casually as he approached Roman. Roman scrambled to his knees, yanking out the machete from his bag. D.C. laughed and shook his head and, from both of D.C.’s sides, Logan and Patton came, fangs bared with violent hisses ripping from them.

D.C. disappeared into smoke, leaving Logan and Patton to slam into each other, and when Roman felt hands clasp his shoulder and yank him up, he knew where D.C. reappeared. Roman tried to break free of his grasp and swing around, though D.C. just laughed in his ear. He grabbed the wrist of the hand Roman was holding the machete with and, with a quick twist, Roman shouted out as he felt something snap along his arm.

Roman’s knees crumpled from the pain and D.C. disappeared into smoke again, narrowly missing being lunged at by Logan. D.C. then appeared right behind Patton and, when his hands clasped around Patton’s neck, Roman thought that was it.

Decapitation was one of the few ways to kill a vampire, and Patton did say it was either him or D.C.

Instead, D.C. flung Patton farther away and Roman, overcoming his pain-induced nausea, pushed himself up. His broken arm hung limp and the machete clattered to the ground. Quickly, he grabbed the machete with his other hand while D.C., overtaken by Logan, was shoved off balance. The two when tumbling to the floor and, when Logan had his hands locked around D.C.’s throat, Roman was ready for Logan to finish it, finish him, finish all of this.

Roman cried out in frustration as D.C. disappeared again and both Logan and Patton scrambled off the floor. The three, breathing heavy, darted their eyes around the warehouse, waiting to see where D.C. landed next.

Roman’s heart faltered when D.C. didn’t appear next to any of them but, instead, next to Virgil.

The cry that ripped out of Virgil’s throat at having D.C. lodge his fangs in his neck was something that Roman would never be able to forget.

D.C. was fighting them, yes, but he was also working on getting all of them away from Virgil. And, with the three of them on one side of the warehouse floor and D.C. on the other, it was the perfect distance to be able to rip someone’s throat out or completely drain them of blood.

Roman had said that this wasn’t a mission for a martyr.

He should have known then that that was a lie. There was always a martyr when dealing with the agency. Always someone to sacrifice themselves for others to be safe.

Roman was sprinting towards D.C. and Virgil before his mind could even really think about what he was doing.

A machete swipe was too dangerous. With D.C.’s head so close to Virgil’s, Roman could risk killing Virgil with the same cut that killed D.C.

He still had to do something, though.

Roman threw himself into D.C. with enough force to knock him away from Virgil. With D.C. momentarily disengaged, Roman thought a silent apology before pushing Virgil away with as much force as he could muster.

D.C. growled next to him and slammed himself back into Roman. His strength and speed sent Roman splayed out on the ground and his machete skidding across the floor. His hands lunged for his bag, for _anything_ , and it was then that Roman realized that his bag had been knocked off of him long ago.

“Such a shame it had to be this way,” D.C. growled, wrapping his hand around Roman’s throat. He could feel D.C.’s claws digging in, ready to tear into Roman. “If only you all knew when to quit.”

Roman could hear running besides him and wanted to beg, wanted to scream, for whoever it was to go to Virgil, to see if he was alive, to forget about Roman.

Roman, as the lead monster hunter, knew that he was setting himself up for a life that could end early. He could accept that; he just needed whoever was running, whoever was getting closer, to go to Virgil and help him because he was the one who was dragged into this. He was the one who needed to make it out alive.

Instead, the silver glint of Roman’s machete caught Roman’s eye and, in the next second, a gasp ripped from his throat as it sliced through D.C.’s neck.

He scrambled himself out from under D.C.- D.C.’s _corpse_ , his breathing ragged. He pushed himself up on the arm that wasn’t broken and looked around rapidly. D.C., now dismembered, lay motionless on the floor. Roman was relieved that he couldn’t see the head in the shadows, as he was sure that that was what would make him lose the contents of his stomach. Virgil was curled in on himself, his neck bleeding, though, if Roman squinted, he could see the quick, panicked rise and fall of his chest. Logan had found the radio and was repeatedly pressing the signal button.

And then Roman turned to the machete, which was falling out of Patton’s hands. It clattered to the floor loudly, ringing in Roman’s ears.

Roman then looked up to Patton.

Patton wasn’t looking at anyone but D.C., who lied at his feet. He wore a horrified look on his face that Roman didn’t think would fade for a long time.

Patton then clasped a hand to his mouth and a heart-shattering sob was wrenched out of him.

“ _I just don’t want to hurt anymore anymore.”_

“I- I-” Patton forced out, choking on his words.

“Patton, you knew that this had to happen,” Logan, who was now looking over Virgil, said to him. “There was nothing you could do to help him.”

Patton shook his head. “It was never supposed to be like this.”

The three stayed like that—stayed exactly where they were with silence stretching in between them—as they listened to sirens and agents grow closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> up next: epilogue
> 
> ethospathoslogan.tumblr.com


	10. epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Virgil was rescued from the warehouse, Roman knew that, eventually, he was going to see Virgil again. He was going to eventually see his best friend up and moving again, he just had to be rushed to the hospital.
> 
> He just couldn’t shake the feeling that, at one point, he thought that he would never actually get to see Virgil alive again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so!!! here we are omg!!! fun fact: when i first planned this fic, i wanted it to be less than six chapters and, at that, less than 30k words.
> 
> i know, funny right? i really didn't expect this fic to hold such a special place in my heart, and, honestly, i can never thank each and every one of you enough for reading this <3
> 
> ***the main TW of this chapter is a suicide mention. i kept it non-graphic and it is only mentioned once, but i still understand that that is a trigger for many people. if you know that you are upset by that but still wish to read the epilogue, feel free to message me and i can let you know what happens in that specific section of the epilogue. the section the TW applies in is after the first "--" when Roman heads back to his apartment***
> 
> *also please read the end note!!!*

Roman was sure that walking into the agency now would be the last time he ever did. Running through every scenario, he believed that there was no way he was going to be walking out of the agency with a stable job still under his belt.

Roman did spend the last month and a half going behind his agency’s back to protect two vampires, after all. Of course he was doing it because he felt it was the right thing to do, but he was pretty sure that that went against his job description.

As he pushed the agency doors open, he saw Thomas and Talyn coming out of the corridor.

“Oh, my friends, my lovely agents,” Roman said rather dramatically as he approached the two of them. “Savor this moment, for I’m pretty sure this is the last time the two of you will ever see me in here.”

Talyn raised an eyebrow. “What… are you talking about?”

“Obviously I’m about to be fired,” Roman said. “Why else would Lockwell say that he needs to see me immediately on one of my days off?”

Talyn rolled their eyes. “There are so many reasons he could have said that.”

“Either way, you’re not gonna be fired,” Thomas said. “They-”

“Thomas, I appreciate your optimism.” With a smile, he rested a hand on Thomas’ shoulder. “But I’m expecting for Lockwell to have security throw me out of here in the next ten minutes. Maybe even Lockwell himself if he wants to make a statement. So-” Roman moved his hand off of Thomas’ shoulder and ran in through his hair. “-I have requests for you two.”

“Maybe for your dramaticness, they should fire you,” Talyn muttered and Thomas laughed.

“I am ignoring that,” Roman pointedly said, jutting a finger in their direction. “Talyn, you are the only one I can trust to keep Virgil entertained on hunts, so when he comes back, I request that you and him make the second-best monster fighting duo there ever was.” He smirked. “After him and I, of course.” He then pointed his finger at Thomas. “Thomas, you have to make sure that they don’t die in the process.

“For someone who thinks they’re about to be fired, you don’t seem very upset,” Talyn noted.

“Deflection is my specialty.”

“Well, while we’ll keep your requests in mind,” Thomas said, smiling. “You’re not going to be fired.”

“Thomas, don’t lie to me,” Roman said, throwing a hand to his chest. “Don’t play with my emotions like this. Anyways-” he stepped around them. “Might as well get this all over with. I will see you two on the streets of the city when I’m poor and jobless and my chances of bouncing back in this economy are slim. I will miss the two of you greatly. Pass on all my messages to Joan. Tell them there is no other pharmacist I would have loved to waste time with.”

He gave them a wave as he let the door swing shut behind him, ignoring their chides of him being too dramatic.

However, as he walked down the corridor to Lockwell’s office, his footsteps echoing down the hall, he felt the nerves that he had tried to keep at bay rise up in him again. Roman really didn’t want to be fired. He didn’t dedicate the last eight years of his life to this agency just to be fired for trying to do the right thing.

(Of course, “doing the right thing” was subjective, but Roman digressed).

More than that though, Roman… had friends at the agency. He might have been blind to it before, but he truly believed he had more people in his corner than just Virgil. Most people, if they weren’t friends, wouldn’t risk their own placement at their job to help the man who had been hiding vampires in his apartment.

Roman paused in front of Lockwell’s office door. He took a deep breath, swallowed thickly, and pushed it open. Lockwell looked up from the papers he was reading at his desk.

“You- you said you wanted to see me, Sir?” Roman mentally kicked himself for stammering.

Lockwell nodded and set down the papers. “Yes. I wanted to speak to you about… recent events.”

Roman nodded and scratched at the back of his neck. “Oh, of course,” he said and was then unable to stop the rest from tumbling out, “I just, uh, I wanted to say that I- I don’t want to be fired? I mean, I understand if that’s what this is coming to and I’ll just leave right now, but I- what I did, it wasn’t to go against the agency? I mean, yeah, it technically was because, like, vampires and stuff but it wasn’t to spite you or anyone else and-”

“Sit down, Prince,” Lockwell interrupted. “You’re not fired.”

Roman snapped his jaw shut and blinked. “I’m not?”

Lockwell raised an eyebrow. “Would you like to be?”

Roman adamantly shook his head and slid into the seat across from Lockwell. “I- if I’m being honest, I kinda expected you all to throw me out the moment I stepped foot in here.” He huffed out a breath. “Well, guess I should thank whoever decided to keep me here.”

“Well, you’re welcome.”

Roman’s eyebrows shot to his hairline. “ _ You? _ ” he sputtered. “But I was  _ convinced _ that you would be the first person to get me out of here considering-”

“Don’t make me change my mind,” Lockwell warned, though, at this point, Roman didn’t really believe it. “A ‘thank you’ would do just fine.”

“Thank you! Of course, thank you,” Roman rushed out. “But…” He trailed off, not quite knowing what to continue with that wouldn’t make him sound ungrateful.

“What changed?” Lockwell filled in and Roman nodded. “Well, first off, we did have a type of deal, so to speak. If Virgil didn’t live, you wouldn’t be coming back.” He paused. “Virgil is very much alive, thanks to you and your… vampires, so you’re not fired.”

“I… I appreciate that, Lockwell,” Roman said. “But it’d be unfair of me to not mention that it was Patton who killed D.C. If it wasn’t for him, I probably would’ve been dead, and maybe Virgil, too.”

Lockwell nodded. “That is what leads me to my next point as to why you are not being dragged out of here.” Roman leaned forward on his elbows. “You told me a couple days ago that you believe that we, as the agency, should not be just killing monsters right and left. That you didn’t hurt—what were their names? Patton and Logan, yes?—that you didn’t hurt them because they weren’t the ones that did this.”

Roman nodded.

“You and Virgil have also expressed before this all even happened that you both wished for things to… change around here,” Lockwell continued. “That there should be a better distribution of agents, that peace treaties should be handled more efficiently, and other things of a similar caliber. As you can see, we haven’t listened.” He sighed. “Some of us have been here for almost as long as you and Virgil have been alive. We rather ignorantly believed that there was no way that two agents in their mid-twenties knew what was best for the agency.” Lockwell paused and Roman raised an eyebrow. “Well, after seeing what you and Virgil have done, and how Logan and Patton have assisted us, we realized that we were wrong.”

“Oh,” Roman breathed.

At that, Lockwell let out a laugh and shook his head. “Roman, for someone with your sense of confidence, some might even say narcissism, I would’ve expected that, at being told that you were right all along, you would have a much grander reaction than ‘oh’.”

Roman laughed, too, and shrugged. “Listen, this conversation is taking a way different direction than what I expected,” he said. “I have no clue what to say about any of this.”

“Well, what you can do is that, when you see Virgil, tell him that he should take take his time in regards to returning,” Lockwell said. “And to get well.”

Roman nodded and smiled. “I’ll be sure to tell him that,” he said. He began to stand, ready to leave, when Lockwell put his hand out to stop him.

“Just one last thing, Roman,” he said and Roman, after a moment’s hesitation, sat down. “Originally, I was planning to ask you why you didn’t tell us from the start about how you’ve found vampires. However, after thinking about it, I realized that that still wouldn’t have yielded the best results. Just… know that things are going to be changing around here. If, God forbid, anything like this ever happens again, let us know next time.”

Roman nodded and stood. “Alright, so when I start housing, like, werewolves or something, I’ll be sure to tell you guys not to call animal control.”

Lockwell glared at Roman. “Get out of my office before I reconsider firing you.”

Roman laughed and sent Lockwell a wave. He walked out of his office, letting the door shut behind him, and out into the lobby.

“Hey, Thomas, Talyn! And Joan!” he called across the room to the three of them. “Not fired!”

“We already told you that you weren’t going to be fired!” Thomas called back.

“Well, I thought you were just being nice and, like, trying to be positive,” Roman said. “You know, soften the reality of unemployment.”

“Are you going to go see Virgil?” Joan asked.

“Visiting hours don’t start for another hour,” Roman explained. “I just have one thing left to do before I go see him.”

He shot the three of them a smile and a wave, which they returned, before stepping out of the agency and into the hot August air. 

He turned and started on his way to his apartment.

\--

“Guess who isn’t fired,” Roman called throughout his apartment as he walked in. Logan looked up from where he sat on the couch with a raised eyebrow.

“Really?”

“Do I detect a hint of surprise?” Roman asked with a smirk, dropping his keys on the table. “Have you lost all faith in me, Logan?”

“Well, I was only surprised because of how you were lamenting over your lost job this morning,” Logan pointed out, wearing a smirk as well.

“Well, I’m just a dramatic person, you should know that by now,” Roman said, waving his hand dismissively. He then looked around the apartment, realizing the lack of another vampire. “Is Patton around?”

“He’s up on the roof.”

Roman arched an eyebrow. “The roof?”

“Yes,” Logan sighed. “I tried talking to him before but… I must admit, it was a rather frustrating conversation. What we were discussing seems to be one of the few things we can’t see eye to eye on.”

Roman nodded and worried his bottom lip. He had a pretty good feeling he knew what they had been talking about. He looked up to his ceiling as if he would be able to see Patton through the floors above him. “I’ll go talk to him.”

Logan hesitated and Roman looked down to him. For a second, Roman thought he saw something flicker across Logan’s eyes. Jealousy, perhaps, at the thought of someone being able to get through to his closest companion over him. Or possibly it was the realization that Roman could be the one that was needed, the one that could help.

Either way, Logan nodded. “I think you should.”

The metal stairs creaked as Roman walked up to the roof. He decided not to think about how long it was since these stairs were built and if anyone since then decided to check if they were safe for human use. The door to the roof was propped open, letting only a sliver of light penetrate the darkness of the staircase.

Roman, pushing it open, saw Patton sitting on the far ledge, his legs dangling over the side. Shoulders hunched and staring down at his lap, Roman had no idea if Patton heard him step onto the roof, though now he has learned that he shouldn’t underestimate a vampire’s senses.

Still, though, neither of them spoke until Roman was sitting down next to Patton. He crossed his legs underneath him, not quite fond of dangling them over the edge with nothing directly under them.

“Hey Patton,” he murmured.

Patton, keeping his eyes down, said in a voice so quiet Roman almost didn’t hear him, “Hi.”

“I still have my job,” Roman said, trying to keep his tone as light as possible. “Lockwell really appreciates how you and Logan helped us.” A pause. “Helped Virgil.”

Patton huffed out a weak laugh. Roman ignored how watery it sounded. “At least I helped someone,” he said. “You’re the one that knocked D.C. off of him, though.”

“And if it wasn’t for you, D.C. would have probably killed both of us.”

Patton sighed and looked up, staring over the buildings ahead of him. The sun reflected off his eyes, the blues shining in sparkling, iridescent shades. “He’s not mated.”

Roman furrowed his eyebrows. “What?”

“Virgil,” Patton said “He’s not mated with D.C.. Logan and I didn’t mention it at the time—we didn’t want to scare you even more—but we feared that D.C. had mated with Virgil out of… I don’t know, spite, maybe.” He sighed. “We can tell when another vampire mates with a human and… he didn’t. Which is good. He would’ve been in a lot of pain, with D.C. being-” He cut himself off and swallowed thickly. After a moment’s pause, he continued with, “Wouldn’t want Virgil going through any more than he already did.”

“I’m seeing him later, you know,” Roman said. “He’s in a stable condition. I can already tell you that he’s going to be extremely grateful of what you did for him.”

“I just wish it could’ve been done another way,” Patton said. His bottom lip wobbled and he bit down on it.

Roman sighed. “I’m… I’m sorry that that was how this ended, Patton.” He knocked their knees together. “But there was no other way.”

“No, you don’t understand!” Patton exclaimed and tears began to flood from his eyes. With a frustrated huff, he rubbed at his eyes, though it didn’t stop the tears from falling. “I didn’t want to hurt anyone!”

“I know, but-”

“I didn’t want anyone to be hurting like I was hurting,” he choked out. “And I couldn’t even manage to do that! And then I- then I- I killed him!”

Something pulled at Roman’s heart and that, mixed with what D.C. had said about Patton, tugged at Roman’s mind in sad curiosity. “What happened, Patton?” he asked quietly. “Why were you hurting?”

Patton shook his head and slipped his glasses off. Wiping at his eyes, he said, “Some people are just really unhappy, Roman. Some people are just really unhappy and they feel alone in the world and sometimes other people are just so cruel and… and sometimes they try to end it.”

Roman swallowed thickly, understanding. “I’m really sorry, Patton,” he said, not knowing if anything else he could have said would’ve been appropriate.

“I just… when I first met him, I saw a part of me in him,” Patton explained. “And I wanted to help him. After I was turned and found Logan, I realized that, while I couldn’t always be happy, I had people who loved me. I wanted to show him that, too. I wanted to show him that we can keep going. Maybe things won’t always be better, but we can keep moving forward, one step at a time.” He took a shaky breath and looked down again. “He wanted to fight against those who hurt him, and I guess at a time I understood that, but I didn’t want other people hurting and I wanted to help… change his mind.”

“You did all you could,” Roman said softly.

“I just wish I could have done more,” he whispered. “Now he’s dead and Virgil’s hospitalized and…” 

“Virgil’s hospitalized but stable. He’s recovering, Patton. He’s going to be okay.” Roman offered a weak smile. “And I… I don’t know what I can say about D.C. Everyone grieves differently, and no matter how much Logan and myself and Virgil and anyone try to help, we cannot take that away from you. Just… just know that you have a home here, okay?”

A sob broke out of Patton’s lips along with something that sounded a lot like, “Thank you.”

Roman reached his hand out to Patton and, the moment Patton took it, suddenly a wave of crushing grief washed over Roman, flooding his senses, and Patton yanked his hand away.

“I-I’m sorry, I should’ve- you’re just going to feel-”

Roman cut him off by reaching for his hand again, grasping it tightly. He breathed deeply and the emotions rushing into him and pulled Patton into his arms.

“You’re okay,” Roman whispered.

Patton buried his head in the crook of Roman’s neck and Roman felt tears drip down onto his shirt. “Thank you for being here,” he managed out. Roman nodded and squeezed him tighter.

“Back at you, Patton,” Roman said, rocking the other slightly. Patton nuzzled himself further into Roman, gripping his shirt in his fists.

When Patton’s sobs subsided to ragged breathing and then finally calmed down, he pulled away from Roman and rubbed roughly at his eyes. Roman gently ran a hand over Patton’s back before pulling away.

“I want you to know that,” Patton started and paused, thinking over his words. “I’m happy that I’m here. I’m happy that Logan and I found each other and found you two.” He took a deep breath. “Things just get… really hard, sometimes.”

“I know,” Roman said. “I’m happy you guys are here, too.”

Patton smiled tiredly at Roman and Roman smiled back.

“Well, don’t let me keep you waiting,” Patton said. “I… I needed this talk, and we had it, which was… really nice, but I think you have somewhere else to be now.”

Roman furrowed his eyebrows.

Patton let out a light laugh. “Don’t act like you haven’t been spending the past two days waiting for Virgil to be allowed visitors. Tell him ‘hello,’ okay?”

\--

“Virgil!” Roman exclaimed, dramatically kicking the hospital room door open enough so that he could slip through, thankful that Virgil had no roommates. “First things first, I say ‘hello,’ because obviously that’s the most important part. Second, the entire fucking city might as well also be saying ‘hello’ because every person I have seen today has told me to tell you that! Third, I decided to bring you a gift because I’m an amazing friend and I found this adorable stuffed bear and—look!—the shirt says to get well soon, which is fitting because-”

“Oh my God, Ro, breathe!” Roman finally sucked in a deep breath, as he would admit that he was rambling due to the battle between excitement and nerves going on inside of him, and turned to look at Virgil.

His best friend, clad in his large, black hoodie over a blue hospital gown, sat propped up in the hospital bed. Whatever makeup he had been wearing when Roman last saw him had been long since washed off, or was at the very least rubbed off as his time with D.C. progressed. Roman noted that he looked tired, though he expected that Virgil hadn’t been sleeping well. Virgil wasn’t as pale as he was when Roman found him in the agency; however, Roman still didn’t think that his friend was feeling particularly well. Virgil had bandages carefully placed on his neck and Roman could ever see some peeking out from under the collar. With the way the edges were already peeling off, Roman had a feeling that Virgil had been toying with them.

“Hi,” Roman finally said, his voice soft and a smile on his face, as he sunk into the chair next to Virgil’s bed. 

“Hi to you,” Virgil said. “And to everyone else, I guess. I never knew I was so popular.”

Roman laughed and nodded. “Yeah, maybe you’ll even surpass me.”

“I could only dream.” Virgil then held out his hand, and at Roman’s raised eyebrow, he rolled his eyes. “Didn’t you just say you brought me a gift? Don’t leave me in suspense here.”

“Oh, yeah,” Roman said and thrust forward the bear. Light brown and stuffed, with a t-shirt directing to get well soon, Roman had seen it when he had come into the hospital and, frankly, panicked. “It’s stupid, honestly, I mean, like, you’re twenty-five, you don’t need-”

“Breathe, Roman,” Virgil chided again, accepting the gift. “And stop doing what I do and talking yourself into freaking out. This is fine and someone with a heart might have even called this adorable.”

“I just- I couldn’t get your stuff from your apartment. I wanted to at least bring you a change of clothes and your laptop but, because of security reasons, I couldn’t get into your apartment without you there. I just thought I’d bring you something and-”

“Roman,” Virgil cut in again. Roman’s eyes flicked back to him and saw that Virgil was smiling. “Thank you. I mean it.” He paused. “Thank you.”

Roman’s throat tightened at the thought that Virgil was possibly thanking him for more than just a bear from the gift shop. 

He took in Virgil’s appearance once more and worried his bottom lip.

When Virgil was rescued from the warehouse, Roman knew that, eventually, he was going to see Virgil again. He was going to eventually see his best friend up and moving again, he just had to be rushed to the hospital. He was Virgil’s emergency contact; that alone should have prepared him for the call saying that Virgil was in a stable enough condition to be allowed visitors. Roman knew that this was coming ever since they rescued him.

He just couldn’t shake the feeling that, at one point, he thought that he would never actually get to see Virgil alive again..

He nodded and forced out a slightly choked, “You’re welcome.”

Virgil cocked his head, his expression turning worried. “Roman?”

“I’m so happy you’re okay,” Roman continued. He let out a watery laugh and rubbed at his eyes. “Sorry, sorry, I was just… I was so fucking worried, Virgil.”

“Oh, shit, Ro,” Virgil said. Roman noted the wavering in his voice and how he wiped the corners of his eyes. “You can’t do this to me right now, man.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Roman laughed, still rubbing at his eyes, though one or two tears did manage to escape. “I’m just…  _ God _ , Virgil, I was so scared but you’re- you’re here! And I didn’t think-” He broke himself off and bit his wobbling bottom lip. 

Virgil reached to Roman with his free hand and Roman immediately took it.

“I’m glad I’m here, too, Roman,” Virgil said quietly, his eyes shining with tears that threatened to fall. “But I guess I have you to thank for that, don’t I? I was told that I needed a blood transfusion pretty fucking fast, so you helped, being a universal donor and all.”

Roman nodded, scrubbing at his now wet cheeks. “Well, it helps even more that you’re a universal recipient. It’s what makes us the best duo the world has ever seen.”

Virgil nodded, rushed. He worried his bottom lip and averted his gaze. “Shit, Ro, I really didn’t think I was gonna-” He swallowed thickly. “I can’t remember… a lot of what happened.” He turned back to Roman. “I knew that you three were there, though. And… and thank you.”

Roman squeezed Virgil’s hand. “Always, Virge,” he whispered. “You know I’ll always have your back.”

Virgil smiled. Something tugged at Roman’s heart, something that beckoned him to remember this, for—after Roman found the abandoned company car and Virgil’s belongings but no Virgil— _ this _ was never a certainty.

“Okay, let’s stop being messes for once in our life,” Virgil said, slipping his hand out from Roman’s. He fanned at his face before wiping under his eyes one last time. “We have reputations to keep and shit.”

“Yeah,” Roman laughed, pressing the heels of his hands to his eyes. “And I  _ especially _ have to keep up appearances.”

“I’m pretty sure Logan has been around long enough to stop caring about appearances.”

“Virgil, I cannot drop my standards so easily,” Roman said mock seriously and dropped his hands into his lap. “He has to think that I have myself together for at least another couple weeks.”

Virgil rolled his eyes. “Yeah, like he already thinks that,” he teased. Roman was about to come back at him with a witty quip when Virgil’s gaze slid past Roman and out the window. The summer sun, shining bright with August heat, cast its rays down onto the street below them. “Remember when you said you wanted this to be a chill summer?”

Roman laughed and dragged a hand through his hair. “Oh yes,” he said. “We were so naive then.”

Virgil scoffed. “Naive is an understatement,” he said. With a shake of his head, he continued with, “This was one hell of a summer.”

Roman nodded, a soft smile on his face. “Sure was.”

\--

Roman was rather keen on enjoying the early summer sun shining in through the cracks of his blinds when the buzzing of his phone on the bedside table broke through the peaceful silence that had settled over in the night and followed through into the morning. Logan, only mere inches away from Roman in bed, cracked an eye open as Roman groaned and rolled over. Clumsily, he smacked around on the table until his fingers curled around his phone.

Roman, as the lead monster hunter, knew that he was setting himself up for a life of early mornings and later nights. He just wished that the agency had the decency to not call him when he was trying to enjoy a peaceful morning in with his boyfriend.

Roman’s guess was that this was revenge for Roman not telling the agency that his boyfriend was, originally, the vampire that he had kept hidden in the apartment.

However, when he saw who it was that was calling, he let out a scoff and an eye roll and answered the call. Putting the phone on speaker, he rested it in between his and Logan’s head. Roman’s hand reached lazily for Logan’s, whose eyes had slipped shut once again.

“I see they still have you working the morning shifts,” Roman noted.

“You know it,” Virgil said on the other line. “You would think me almost dying for them a year ago would change that, but I guess not.”

“Well, you’re not important enough,” Roman said. “You? An agent just behind me in ranking? Expendable. If that was me, though, I’d already be retired and happily living in, like, Florida or something.”

“I’d finally be rid of you.”

Roman smirked, though of course Virgil couldn’t see it. “You wish.”

“Well, anyways, there is a reason that I’ve called you,” Virgil said. “It’s actually rather urgent.”

Roman furrowed his eyebrows. “Which is?”

“Another vampire sighting.”

Logan’s eyes snapped open and Roman shot up onto his elbow. “Wait, what?” he exclaimed, his voice carrying to all corners of the room. He was already halfway out of the bed, ready to throw a million questions at Logan as to whether or not he was  _ positive _ there wasn’t a fourth vampire, when he heard Virgil snort on the other end.

“I mean, yeah, Patton came by to say hi, so,  _ technically _ , that’s another vampire sighting.”

Patton then chimed in with, “Hey guys!” 

Roman and Logan shared a look. They didn’t even need to telepathically communicate to decide that Virgil was dead to them (and Patton, pun completely intended).

“Virgil, enjoy the last half hour of your life,” Roman threatened, flopping back down on his bed. “Because once I get up, I am coming to the agency and punching you into the next life.”

Roman heard Virgil, along with Patton, laugh on the other line. “I knew that would get yours and Logan’s attention, because Logan’s there too, right? He’s always there. It’s almost nine-A.M. on a Saturday and, if I had to be here at five in the morning, you two can at the very least suffer slightly with me.”

“You’re a monster,” Roman said, shaking his head.

“One of you doesn’t actually need sleep to survive, he just chooses to do so for—I don’t know?—a past time?” Logan slid a glare to Roman’s phone as Virgil laughed again. “Anyways, Ro? When you come to kill me, bring me an iced coffee.”

“I’m bringing you scalding hot coffee and throwing it in your face.”

“Knew I could count on you,” Virgil said. “See ya.”

Before Roman could think of any other threats or expletives to say to Virgil, Virgil hung up.

Roman and Logan shared another look.

“So we hate Virgil now, right?” Roman asked.

“I think so,” Logan agreed.

Roman laughed and leaned over, pressing a soft kiss to Logan’s lips. “At least they’ve worked things out,” he said once he pulled away and curled up against Logan. “I think they’re good for each other.”

“And now they’re back to being completely insufferable with their jokes and puns. Having to deal with Patton alone for a century was enough, in my opinion,” Logan said. He then let his eyes slip shut again.

“Hey, no,” Roman said and poked his cheek. “Don’t go to sleep on me again! Virgil was right when he said that you don’t even need it.”

“Roman, don’t you know that I am finally getting peaceful nights of rest? Nights were so insufferable when they were spent in coffins.”

“Wait, really?” Roman asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No,” Logan said with a chuckle and opened his eyes again. “This is all merely for peaceful meditation. Unless, of course, you would rather that I stay up all night and watch over you, seeing that that is a common rumor.”

Roman scrunched up his nose. “Please don’t,” he said and Logan laughed. Roman beamed and shifted so that he was on top of Logan, his chin resting on his chest. Logan smiled down at him, one of his hands naturally settling at the small of Roman’s back, and Roman arched an eyebrow. “What?”

“A year has passed and I still never tire of seeing you each morning,” Logan murmured. “I’m excited for the many more to come.”

Roman’s face flushed and he didn’t even attempt to stop the grin from slipping onto his face. “Could be forever,” he said softly.

“Could be,” Logan said with a nod. “I don’t think we should rush, however.”

Roman chuckled. “My beauty won’t last decades as we wait to decide.”

“It won’t ever fade,” Logan said and Roman, absolutely positive that his face was beat red, turned his head so that his ear was resting on Logan’s chest. His hair fell down into his eyes and he huffed it out of the way.

“And here I thought I was the charmer.” He traced gentle circles on Logan’s chest.

“I still think you are,” Logan said and Roman smiled. “And I don’t think we’ll wait decades. I just… don’t think you should rush your mortal life.” Logan slipped Roman’s hand into his. “We are already a part of each other. That won’t ever change. Think on it for a year or four or five.” Roman turned to look at him again. “I know that seems like a long while but there is a lot to think about when considering immortality and…”

Logan trailed off and Roman finished his statement by shifting and giving him another kiss. “Whether forever is the next seventy years or the next couple hundreds of years,” he murmured. “I’m happy as long as I’m with you.”

Logan smiled up at Roman as Roman rolled off him and sat up on the bed. “I love you,” Logan said as Roman ran a hand through his hair in an attempt to make it at least remotely presentable.

Roman beamed and couldn’t stop the quick laugh of happiness, accompanied with the swell of his heart, that happened each time they exchanged those words. “I love you, too,” he said. He then swung his legs off the bed and stood, stretching his arms up as his back cracked into place. “Now, my dear, if you’ll excuse me, I have a best friend to deck in the face.”

Logan laughed and sat up. “I think I should come as well,” he said. “I’d like to have some words with Patton.”

When they would arrive to the agency, Roman would come in with two iced coffees in hand and Logan following behind him. Instead of throwing one at Virgil’s head, as Roman had threatened to do, he would slide one to Virgil over the table and share a grin with his best friend. Logan would chide Patton for the joke, claiming that it was a dangerous prank to play considering what Roman and Virgil’s job was; however, he would be unable to stop a smile from forming on his face at realizing that, yes, perhaps the joke was a tad funny. Roman would find a reason to stay at the agency for the day despite it being his day off. He would manage to convince Lockwell that having Patton and Logan stay wouldn’t be a distraction because, not only did they help protect the city at one point, but the other agents found themselves enjoying the presence of the two vampires, so how could they be a harmful distraction?

For now, though, Roman was content to laugh and nod in agreement at Logan’s words, happy with the family that he had managed to find in a time when he thought he had only one person left on Earth in his corner.

And Roman decided that that would be enough for now and for forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi all!!! again, thank you for reading this. not gonna lie, i got really sad when i finished this last night. this fic has basically consumed my life for the past two months and it didn't even click in my brain that the main story was officially over until abt ten minutes after i finished the epilogue.
> 
> note that i said "main story"
> 
> for those who don't follow me on tumblr (ethospathoslogan), i've been teasing about a possible spin-off series. the spin-off would be taking place in between the year gap that's presented in the epilogue, and it would consist of a part of the story that had to be cut for timing reasons: moxiety. i originally planned for patton and virgil to get together during the fic, but seeing that patton didn't come into the fic until chapter six and virgil was kidnapped in chapter eight, there was no way that i could properly develop their relationship and have it not be rushed. 
> 
> also, people have been starting to ask me about virgil and patton's backgrounds and, honestly, i don't want to leave their story unfinished, seeing as both of them are left pretty open ended.
> 
> so, i'm deciding to make a spin-off for them. i'm not calling it a "sequel" because i feel like a sequel implies that there is a new villain and an addition to where the plot was left off. i want to let you all know that this spin-off is driven by characters and internal conflicts. "my blood is singing with your voice," not only was roman and logan's story, but also consisted of the main plot. this spin-off is now virgil and patton's story and seeing how both of them deal with what happened in the year gap between D.C. being killed and that next summer.
> 
> this spin-off is still a work in progress!!! i'm still outlining it and getting down the fine details and, honestly, i would be lying if i said i wasn't scared. i've never done a spin-off for any of my fics before and, really, i'm scared of disappointing you guys. all i ask is that you have patience with me on this because, while this is something i really want to do, i keep having to talk myself out of stress-induced writing freak outs omg.
> 
> i'm like 97% sure this spin-off is happening. when it does, it will be posted on here and on tumblr. however, if on the off chance that 3% happens, i will be posting an in-depth headcanons post abt what was supposed to happen /only on tumblr/.
> 
> also, to follow with the theme of titles being florence and the machine lyrics, this spin-off is being called "hold on to your heart".
> 
> for more details, please check my tumblr, and for any questions, feel free to message me here or on tumblr <3
> 
> ethospathoslogan.tumblr.com <3


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